On Sunday, Sept. 5, the Block Island Yacht Club hosted the eighth annual Around the Island Pursuit Race. This year 12 boats registered, with two from the mainland representing the Duck Island and Branford Yacht Clubs.
The pursuit format differs from a typical race with each yacht’s scoring handicap being applied at the start so that all competitors’ boats, when well-sailed, would finish the 17-mile course at the same time.The race conditions featured SSW winds from 10 to 15 knots which meant that with an upwind start and finish, the boats raced around the island, in a counterclockwise direction with the start and finish line set just outside of the New Harbor entrance channel.The winning yacht in the spinnaker class was Screwball, an Aerodyne 38 co-skippered by Kevin and Amy Carse, from Clinton, CT, who started last andpassed all of the boats to finish first in a circumnavigation time of two hours, 43 minutes. Second place went to Island Spirit, a J/24 skippered by Bob Closter from Block Island, and third place went to RUSH, a Tripp 26 skippered by Henry duPont, also from Block Island.
The winning yacht in the cruising class was Nimble, an Alerion /
