Biennial Sailing Race Coming to Marblehead July 5

Marblehead’s July 4 weekend promises to be busy and active.

On top of the town’s harbor illumination and fireworks display, the biennial Marblehead to Halifax Race will set sail from Marblehead on Sunday, July 5.

The town is asking that anyone whose vessel is 30-foot or longer and will be away for the weekend to contact the harbormaster if a visiting boat can use your mooring.

The race will start near Halfway Rock and head west toward shore before turning south near Marblehead Neck and then striking out for Halifax, 363 nautical miles away. The best places for on-shore viewing of the race will be Chandler Hovey Park and Castle Rock, according to the race website.

This is the 36th edition of the event. The race began in 1905 as an informal competition between sailors from the Boston, Eastern and New York yacht clubs. It was run sporadically until 1939 when the Boston Yacht Club and Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron formalized it as a biennial event. Since that time it has been run regularly on alternate years as one of the pre-eminent ocean races of the North Atlantic.