Sailing
It was a sailor’s weekend in Edgartown. Over 200 one-design sailboats of all sizes competed in the Edgartown Yacht Club 89th annual regatta. The boats measured as short as eight feet to as long as 30 feet. The sailors and their sailboats came from all around Southeastern Massachusetts.
Bill Roman, manager of the Edgartown Yacht Club, said the Thursday through Saturday racing went well, though sailors were challenged by the variability of the wind.
Keep your eyes on the water today where hundreds of sailboats, from schooners to catboats to modern design racers, are partaking in the Vineyard Cup. Races are based out of Vineyard Haven harbor, but you also can catch a glimpse of the action from the East an West Chop Lighthouses, Eastville Beach, State Beach and at the entrance of Lake Tashmoo.
The Vineyard Cup is an annual benefit for Sail Martha’s Vineyard, which provides sailing lessons and instructions to Island youth.
Robert S. Douglas, captain of the topsail schooner Shenandoah, received the Walter Cronkite award Saturday at the 21st annual Sail Martha’s Vineyard Seafood Buffet and Auction at Tisbury Wharf. The award is bestowed to those who have distinguished themselves above and beyond, following the precepts of Sail Martha’s Vineyard’s own goals, to enrich the lives of others.
Boatbuilders Honored
Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway was honored on Saturday in a tribute dinner at the 21st annual wooden boat show in Mystic Seaport. Nat Benjamin, Ross Gannon and Brad Abbott earned high praise from Jon Wilson, founder and editor in chief of Wooden Boat magazine, who said the boatbuilders “. . . embarked on an enterprise and a way of life that has brought them — for more than 30 years — peerless reputation and world renown. The Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway became much more than a small business.”
Sail Martha’s Vineyard, an organization dedicated to connecting Island children with their maritime roots, will honor Capt. Robert S. Douglas at its 21st annual Seafood Buffet and Auction on Saturday, July 7.
There will be plenty of gusto on the water this summer. The Vineyard sailing season has begun. Sailors are already racing between East and West Chops and sailors have filled their calendars with contests that were drafted over the past winter.
Whether you love to sail or just love being on the water and watching sailboats, there are plenty of opportunities to watch or, even better, get out and participate.