Cruising World – August 2019

8

W

hen I wandered

into the infamous

sprawling white

tent at the end of Payne’s

Dock eight years ago after

my fi rst afternoon of sailing

during Block Island Race

Week, I thought, Wo w ,

everyone here knows each other.

With 100-something boats,

plus their crews, plus their

friends, that would be impos-

sible, of course. But the roar

of the crowd, all talking and

laughing, was deafening, as

sailors wandered from group to

group, shaking hands, slapping

backs—all well-lubricated,

courtesy of Mount Gay rum.

Talk about a party! And it rages

every day, from the opening

bash Sunday through the fi nal

awards Friday evening.

Storm Trysail Club has been

hosting the every-other-year

regatta since 1965. Though I

don’t have an actual headcount,

I’d wager there were more than

a few gray-haired skippers on

hand this past June who’d sailed

most, if not all, of them. It’s

that sort of event.

This year’s was just my

third, but even this relative

newbie spotted some familiar

boats and faces as we crossed

tacks out on the water in the

spinnaker cruising class, or

waited at the dock for the leg-

endary Block Island fog to lift.

Fog, like post-race mudslides

from Mahogany Shoals, are

pretty much a given—the fi rst

because of the island’s location

13 miles out in the Atlantic

from Rhode Island’s southern

coastline, and the latter, well,

because it’s a tradition that

my hosts, CW colleague Ted

Ruegg and his wife, Heide,

have embraced. Tenaciously.

There’s a lot of that tradition

stuff going on during the

regatta. I missed the two days

of racing at the beginning of

the week, including Tuesday’s

often epic Round the Island

Race. This year it was a damp

and windy affair, but for Team

Ruegg, it was a fi ne day because

they took a second-place win

aboard Bluenose, a Jeanneau 410

from Bluenose Yacht Sales in

nearby Newport.

I got there on Wednesday,

which turned out to be the

week’s lay day, a relic rekindled

from years ago. Festivities

included a road race, tug of war,

trivia contest and a kids-ori-

ented tour of Abrams Animal

Farm. Downtown was hopping.

Thursday, we awoke to pea-

soup conditions that delayed

the morning dock start for

several hours. But while we sat

in the Jeanneau’s cockpit wait-

ing for even a hint of visibility,

a number of skippers stopped

by, prompting me to wonder:

What keeps them coming

back, year after year?

“We love Block Island,” Ted

said when I asked. He and

Heide were married there.

And he sailed his fi rst regatta

in 1983. He’s sailed 17 in all,

and hasn’t missed one since

1987. Heide has sailed in six
      of them, and their pal and
      perpetual cockpit mate Dave
      Robinson has fi ve notches in
      the winch handle, if you will.
      They used to sail boats up
      for the race from their home
      in Annapolis, Maryland, but
      in more-recent years, Ted’s
      managed to secure local rides.
      “The race committee is
      great, and the event is well-
      organized,” Ted said. “The
      competition is very close in all
      classes. We don’t get to race
      all the time back home, and
      every other year we get to get
      together with friends and sail
      our best against the best in
      New England.”
      The team from North Sails
      wracked up another season
      on Block, though technically
      not as racers. This year, Kimo
      Worthington and Chuck Allen
      spent regatta days bombing
      around in a big RIB, from

one racing circle to the next,

coaching any who asked, and

then later following up with

photos and email tips on how

to improve sail trim. They also

had sailmakers on-site, ready to

repair any carnage. Under the

big top, they looked as though

they were enjoying it all.

On Thursday night, I met

Tom Lee, owner of the Gun-

boat 55 Jammy, who was clearly

savoring his fi rst-place standing

in the multihull division. Now

an island resident, he said he’s

campaigned a number of boats

at Race Week, a few of them

winners. “It’s a great opportu-

nity to catch up,” he said, wav-

ing his arm across the crowd.

Dave Norton, who owns

Lemon and Line, a shop in

Newport, has sailed nine or 10

regattas on Steve Thurston’s

Mighty Puffi n. “We had the

best time,” he said, recalling

the early races that have kept

him coming back. “We drank a

lot of mudslides; we had good

racing, good fun.”

“There’s no better venue,”

quipped Kevin Coughlin from

New England Ropes, which,

like North, was a regatta spon-

sor. I ran into him right after

Jimmy Buffett made a guest

appearance at the Friday-night

awards on behalf of Margarita-

ville, also a sponsor.

“It’s tradition. I just do it;

it’s on the calendar,” boat-

builder and America’s Cup

veteran Tom Rich said when

asked. He’s been coming back

since 1969.

Newport sailor Skip Helme

was probably most succinct

when he stopped by Bluenose

before joining the rest of his

crew: “I come to sail with

friends.”

We had the best time,” he said, recalling the early races that have kept him coming back.

“We drank a lot of mudslides; we had good racing, good fun.

BY MARK PILLSBURY

THEY’RE Back

Editor’s Log

AL

LE

N^

CL

AR

K/

PH

OT

OB

OA

T.C

OM

a

u

g

u

s

t

/s

e

p

t

e

m

b

e

r

2

0

1

9

cr

u

is

in

gw

o

rl

d

.c

o

m

It’s a kite ride to the fi nish for the Jeanneau 410 Blue-

nose. Next stop: Race Week festivities ashore, of course.