The 100th annual Edgartown Yacht Club Regatta wrapped up earlier than planned the weekend of July 15, when heavy winds Sunday morning led the race committee to abandon the final day of competition.
The Edgartown Yacht Club Regatta celebrates its 100th birthday this summer, growing from a single day of racing in 1924 to a five-day series with more than 100 boats registered to compete this year. The regatta begins on Wednesday, July 12.
The traditional end of summer Herreshoff Cup Race included a twist this year, with the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club competing in the race for the first time and playing host.
Clear skies and fair seas but not much wind met the 66 sailing teams that set out Saturday in the Edgartown Yacht Club’s annual ‘Round-the-Island race, a Vineyard tradition since 1938.
The Edgartown Yacht Club’s gala festivity of the year took place Friday night at the club when children from 10 to 18, and an even greater number of adult spectators, gathered for the annual fancy dress ball. Carrying out the theme of Denizens of the Deep in Fact and Fiction, the decorations, painted by Ruth Appledoorn Mead’s art class, consisted of flat models of fish and other sea animals hung from the ceiling and adorning the walls. Balloons were also strung above the dance floor.
It’s just a hundred years ago that the cruising squadron of the New York Yacht Club paid its first visit to Martha’s Vineyard, and the schooner America was among them. And so the rendezvous set for today in Edgartown harbor completes a sort of neat historical package, even to the coming of the yachts from among which the defenders of the America’s Cup will be selected.
Boat watchers, prepare yourselves! The New York Yacht Club’s annual cruise will arrive in Edgartown today. The yearly progress, which touches at several southeastern New England ports, has been an eye-catching summer spectacle for at least 116 years. This year’s fleet includes 106 sailboats and a collection of more than 60 power craft.
