by Will
/ June, 24 2015 01:30
This week is the 50th Anniversary of Block Island Race Week and the latest in our Discovering Block Island series. Race Week goes all the way back to 1965 and this year brings 2000 sailors and 169 boats to the weeklong race. A big boon for the little island we love, it's held biennially in odd numbered years (the next one will be 2017) making it all that much more special. The Storm Trysail Club puts on the event and raises money for charity too (over $100,000 to date for local charities). There's a ton of info over at BlockIslandRaceWeek.com. Just a great event overall. Of course, if you plan on attending make sure to bring sunscreen!
Get Social
To get you started, here are up to the minute tweets and posts from the race:
The Details
Each day there is a different race along with a party at night and an awards presentation. The highlight being the "Around the Block" race which is a 20 nautical mile race that circumnavigates Block Island. It's really a well run event. I guess it has to be to survive 50 years. Here's the official schedule which you can also find on the race week website.
To me the boats are the best part of the whole thing. I'm not much of a sailor but the sailboats are pretty cool. This year's boats range from 21 feet to a whopping 65 feet. That's darn big. Check out a few from the 2013 event in the pics above and see more here.
Another great aspect is the race is going green this year. Sustainability, recycling and so forth is a big push. At Block Island Organics we're all for keeping the environment clean. Here's a quote from the race's press release:
"In its desire for a sustainable event, the Storm Trysail Club has adopted the protocol set forth by Sailors for the Sea for a clean regatta, primarily committing to paperless race documents, reusable water bottles, water stations on the docks, recycling and composting. The Storm Trysail Club also plans to host three beach clean-ups in conjunction with Clean Ocean Access on Wednesday, June 24."
Pretty hard to beat I'd say!
How Do I Follow the Event?
Good question! There are a couple of things you can do including official race results, Facebook and Twitter accounts to follow and even a mobile app, both iOS and Android, to download.
More About The Block
Block Island Race Week is one of the many great events on the island. It adds to the charm and really shows what the island is all about - family fun with a giving attitude. Find out more about Block Island in our Discovering Block Island Series.
