Over 1,700 crew lined the docks for Block Island Race Week, a semi-annual gathering of sailboats and families that is part competitive ocean racing, and part camaraderie and story telling that was headquartered out of Champlin’s Marina this year.And what a week they’ve had. (Where’s the fog?)Organized under a widely-recognized sailing organization called the Storm Trysail Club and sponsored by Margaritaville, the week-long event is host to over 178 entries, chase boats, sponsors and suppliers to the trade. The teams organize the boats in the morning and leave the Great Salt Pond in a conga line heading for three different racecourses set up by committees for the different classes (generally lengths) of boats. The boats all have crews that this year ranged from five all the way up to 22 on board the 74-foot maxi-boat, Bella Mente.By breaking the boats down into classes, the sailing is very competitive and exciting with the boats on top of each other for every race. An exhausting three races per day guarantees endless jockeying and strategy being tested, from start locations to the types of sails to be deployed. The only
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