It may come as a surprise to some that growing up on an Island does not always ensure access to sailing. The water is always within reach, but there have long been socio-economic barriers to Island kids interested in learning the sport.

In the early 1990s, a group of Edgartown residents teamed up to tackle the problem. Nancy Hoffman and the late Nancy Haskell spearheaded the effort to found Sail Martha’s Vineyard (now known as Sail MV), a program dedicated to helping Island kids gain access to affordable sailing instruction.

There is plenty of evidence already on the waterfront: Vineyard sailors are getting ready for summer.

A boat has a life of its own. This is the story of one boat whose lineage goes back through Vineyard history; one boat who gracefully carried a Vineyard family as it grew up; one boat that I, a sailor and waterfront reporter, had watched in wonder as she sailed these waters, until she ended up in a field collecting lichens, aging as a home for hornets’ nests.

Then she came to me. This is the story, too, of getting her back into the water, and how the sailors who are the fabric of this community helped me to return this personality to the harbor.

Sunday’s stiff southwest wind more than made up for Saturday’s light air to make the 14th annual Edgartown Yacht Club 12-metre regatta a weekend success. Ten of the fastest sailboats in the region, contenders in past America’s Cup racing, came together on Nantucket Sound to share a moment at the start and race to the finish. Saturday had time for just one race; Sunday had three.

Jeff Randall, a 12-metre enthusiast and event chairman, said the weekend sailing will go down in the yacht club books as one of the best sailing weekends they’ve had.

The 14th annual Edgartown Yacht Club 12-metre regatta is this weekend. This year 10 boats are expected for two days of racing, beginning tomorrow.

These are among the fastest big sailboats of the sea. Each has had its days of glory in trying to win the America’s Cup. The boats are between 60 and 70 feet in length, require a sizable crew to sail and often have huge colorful spinnakers. Many of them are coming from Newport. Starting today, they’ll be tied up at the Edgartown Yacht Club.

The Vineyard Cup attracted 106 boats on Saturday for a 13-mile race across Nantucket Sound and back. The sailboats crossed the start in four separate class starts around noon.

In the three days of racing that began on Friday and ended on Sunday, one of the newest boats on the waterfront did the best.