Sports
Marblehead Race Week Draws Hundreds of Boaters
Junior Race Week concludes Wednesday; senior division NOOD regatta continues through Sunday.
Hundreds of sailing enthusiasts of all ages are in town this week to take part in the 121st Marblehead Race Week.
The distinguished regatta launched Monday with the junior divisions and continues with senior races Thursday through Sunday.
For the past 55 years, sailors ages 9 to 21 have participated in Marblehead Junior Race Week, sponsored by the Pleon Yacht Club. More than 300 youths have entered this year's races, which conclude Wednesday.
Find out what's happening in Marbleheadfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"It's a pretty massive event," said Brad Carpenter, program director at PYC. "We may have 600 people involved in this race, including parents, coaches and volunteers."
With multiple age groupings, three courses, and three-to-four races each day, Junior Race Week offers young sailors "a good deal of fun," Carpenter said.
Find out what's happening in Marbleheadfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Beginning Thursday, the event turns to the senior division, with the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design (NOOD) regatta.
More than 1,000 sailors, crewing more than 150 boats, will contend for individual fleet trophies and the grand prize -- entry into the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Championship regatta this November in the British Virgin Islands.
This year's host for race week is the Boston Yacht Club, but the scale of the event means that the other clubs, including Eastern Yacht Club and Corinthian Yacht Club, share in the organizing duties, along with the Marblehead Racing Association.
The undertaking includes organizing registration and housing for the hundreds of racers, and officiating and scoring of all the races.
"It's a very competitive regatta and quite a prestigious event," Jeffrey Wargo, general manager at EYC, said of the NOOD regatta. "It's a collaboration of efforts to help make it happen."
On Tuesday, calm seas and bright sunshine boosted the spectacle, and dozens of people watched from Chandler Hovey Park at the tip of the Neck as the junior racers returned to the harbor in a line of colorful sails.
"It's a great week of racing," said PYC's Carpenter. "We're proud to be able to draw as many sailors as it does."
