The 37th edition of the Block Island Club’s annual Hal Madison Race on Saturday, Aug. 22 featured a series of firsts, in keeping with an unusual year on Block Island and the world at large.
It was the first time the race was postponed twice before finally being sailed; the first time there was a socially-distant, mask-up skippers’ meeting (same for the awards party); the first time there was a designated dinghy class; the first time the race was won by a former staffer and president of the club and the first time a dinghy won the Madison trophy. That dinghy — a Megabyte — a 14-foot centerboarder, sailed smartly by Sven Risom, bested five keelboats.
The action started just after noon under partly cloudy skies, with winds about five to 10 knots, generally out of the west, with some swells. The fluky, shifty winds made it hard for the race committee to set an ideal windward mark for the course off the southwest coast of the island, so this race turned out to be about boat speed and sail trim. Bob “Red” Closter on his J/24 Island Spirit, and John Seider, head club sailing instructor racing a
