Edgartown Race Weekend attracts 71 teams

Brian Cunha's (Newport, R.I.) Irie 2, a past winner and perennial favorite at Edgartown Race Weekend, returns for the 2022 edition of the beloved event, which starts Thursday, June 23 and runs through Saturday, June 25 © EYC / Stephen Cloutier

Edgartown Yacht Club's Edgartown Race Weekend starts Thursday (June 23) with two days of 'Round-the-Sound Racing followed by the traditional 'Round-the-Island Race on Saturday (June 25). A fleet of 71 boats has registered, with most of those coming to the island of Martha's Vineyard from across the Northeast.

Twenty-two teams will participate in Thursday and Friday's 15 nautical-mile offshore "sprints" around various government buoys within Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. This segment of the regatta replaces 'Round-the-Buoys racing that has kicked off the regatta in recent years past. The goal of the new format is to provide more offshore and coastal-type racing for competitors over the course of the regatta. (Only five in this fleet will not go on to sail the 'Round-the-Island race.).

A fleet of 66 boats will sail the Edgartown Race Weekend's famous 'Round-the-Island Race (one of yacht racing's oldest distance events), starting just outside Edgartown Harbor on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. As the fleet makes its way around the 55 nautical-mile course that circumnavigates Martha's Vineyard in a clockwise manner, spectators will be able to view the action from the island's coastal vantage points. Competitors will enjoy magnificent views of cliffs, headlands, towns and open water as they play the tidal currents and manage wind effects.

The Course: The fleet will first sail between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket along the east beach of Chappaquiddick. At midday they are in the open Atlantic Ocean with views of the south coast of the Vineyard. In the afternoon, rounding the gorgeous cliffs of Gay Head, the fleet sails up Vineyard Sound to the finish near the mouth of Edgartown Harbor (if not shortened due to weather conditions). By then, competitors will have passed within sight of the seven lighthouses of Cape Poge, Gay Head, Tarpaulin Cove, Nobska, West Chop, East Chop and Edgartown.

Sponsors of Edgartown Race Weekend are Mount Gay Rum, North Sails, J Boats, Regatta Craft Mixers, Hinckley Yachts, and Storm Trysail Club and Team One Newport.

For more information on Edgartown Race Weekend, go to www.rtirace.org or contact Margaret Passafiume, , (508) 627-4364 x18. Follow the regatta on Facebook and Instagram.