Please select your home edition
Edition
Selden 2020 - LEADERBOARD

Save the date for the 29th Block Island Race Week

by Storm Trysail Club 23 Jun 2020 13:15 PDT 21-25 June 2021
Block Island Race Week © Steve Cloutier / Block Island Race Week

While many races on the 2020 calendar have been canceled or are in doubt, we would all like to have something to look forward to. So with one year to go, we are announcing the dates of the always-eagerly-anticipated Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week.

Next year will be the 29th edition of this world-renowned regatta, and it will be held June 21-25 in picturesque Block Island, Rhode Island.

Storm Trysail Club Rear Commodore and STC-BIRW Event Chair Ray Redniss is in the midst of ramping up the planning for the week-long event. "We anticipate over 125 boats with a wide array of designs. The yachts typically range from world-class Grand Prix teams all the way to families and friends racing and staying on aboard their cruisers, and everything in between. Courses will include the usual Windward-Leeward racing for the majority of the classes, but we will also offer Pursuit and 'Solent-Style' racing formats. These formats were very popular the last go-around, and we had a significant number of first-time entrants reflecting well on the health of the event."

Dick Neville, BIRW's On Water Director, explains, "Pursuit racing assesses every boat's handicap at the start of the race. Each boat starts individually at different times and then they race boat-for-boat to the finish. This is a more family-friendly 'beer-can' format for the casual racer that avoids the close-quarters maneuvering that occurs during traditional starts. We plan to expand upon Solent-style racing (sometimes called 'Navigator courses') we debuted last year which mixes drop marks and permanent government buoys.

By providing a variety of course options, we hope to continue to appeal to those crews who are looking for a very competitive format, but who do not wish to sail multiple races a day on shorter courses. It is a little less intense physically, but still exciting. All of these novel formats are aimed at re-emphasizing the fun of racing."

Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race Week typically offers four days of racing and one flexible, weather dependent "lay-day", the highlight of which is the Around Block Island Race with the entire fleet circumnavigating the beautiful island.

Each day of racing is followed by daily awards during a festive cocktail party under the tent that serves as Race Headquarters on the lawn of the Narragansett Inn overlooking the Great Salt Pond.

The biennial event was first held in 1965 after a number of Storm Trysail members participated in Cowes Week in England and were inspired to create an American version. Over a thousand sailors, and many of their families, attended this very popular regatta's last edition and Storm Trysail Club looks forward to bringing the fun of sailing once again next summer.

The Notice of Race will be posted on Yacht Scoring sometime this Fall. In the meantime, mark your calendars and set your race watch to countdown to the first start.

Learn more at stormtrysail.org/regattas/blockislandraceweek

Related Articles

31st Block Island Race Week Day 5
IHG Hotels and Resorts Race Day concludes the event Block Island Race Week's final tent party was abuzz with anticipation and excitement Friday evening, as sailors and spectators awaited the announcement of cumulative awards for the regatta's 60th anniversary. Posted on 27 Jun
31st Block Island Race Week Day 4
Round The Island Race on Mount Gay Rum Race Day Mount Gay Rum Race Day featured everyone's favorite race of Block Island Race Week: the Regatta Craft Mixers Round The Island Race. The breaking of the recent heatwave made for a fast and furious counter-clockwise lap. Posted on 26 Jun
31st Block Island Race Week Day 3
Soaring temperatures on Risk Strategies Race Day Risk Strategies Race Day at Block Island Race Week featured another day of champagne conditions and soaring temperatures. To give sailors a brief reprieve, the Race Committee called for an "early" end to racing (only 2 long races instead of 3). Posted on 25 Jun
31st Block Island Race Week Day 2
Regatta Craft Mixers Race Day turns up the heat Regatta Craft Mixers Race Day turned up the heat at Block Island Race Week—literally. The Island was not spared from the heat wave sweeping the East Coast this week, but that did not put a stop to the action out on the water. Posted on 25 Jun
31st Block Island Race Week Day 1
The wind fills in after a short delay on North Sails Race Day Racing in the 31st Block Island Race Week got under way on Monday with the North Sails Race Day. After a one hour wind delay, the three fleets motored through "The Cut" to their respective race courses for a 12:00 p.m. start as the sea breeze filled in. Posted on 23 Jun
78th Annual Block Island Race
A test of grit, teamwork, and offshore strategy The 78th edition of the Block Island Race, hosted by the Storm Trysail Club, delivered classic Northeast spring conditions and a course that tested every sailor's resilience, tactics, and teamwork. Posted on 28 May
Block Island Race preview
Most of the fleet will tackle the traditional 186-nautical-mile course from Stamford This year's start time has been moved up two hours from prior editions to take advantage of increased daylight and potentially fairer conditions in Long Island Sound. Posted on 21 May
Baxter family tradition continues
Generations on the water at Block Island Race Week XXXI With 66 entries and counting, the 31st Block Island Race Week is shaping up to be a fantastic event. Among the names on the Scratch Sheet, one stands out as a link to the regatta's earliest days: the Baxter family. Posted on 17 Nov 2024
Get to know Block Island Race Week
In Person (Larchmont Oct 30) or Online (Zoom Oct 24) Join us in Larchmont on October 30th or online on October 24th to see why 50 boats have already registered for the best sailing week of the year! Posted on 23 Oct 2024
Learn more about Block Island Race Week
Zoom Seminar being held on Thursday, October 24th Is Block Island Race Week on your bucket list? Or do you know someone who should bring their boat? We want to invite you and your sailing buddies to learn more about this incredible event as we gear up for its 60th birthday! Posted on 20 Oct 2024
RS Sailing 2021 - FOOTERZhik 2024 DecemberLloyd Stevenson - Catalyst GT 1456x180px BOTTOM