As reported by the New York Times back in 1945, members of the Storm Trysail Club who had served in the war came together at the New York Yacht Club to organize an ocean race to take place on Memorial Day weekend. Almost all of the members of the Club at that time had participated in the war efforts, so the timing of the race was especially meaningful.

Fast forward to today, the annual Block Island Race is still a kick-off to start the summer sailing season that provides challenging and competitive sailing for some of the top vessels in the Northeast.

This year is set to be the best race yet with the return of the highly popular Stamford Yacht Club Party as the post-race celebration, and an earlier start time of 1200 on May 23. Additionally, all participants are automatically entered into Raymarine’s AIS raffle! Winner must be present at SYC to claim this prize though!

Thanks to our partners at Sebago and Raymaine, friends, family, and fans will be able to follow along with the fleet on the YB Tracker app. Sebago is also offering Block Island Race registered sailors discount codes, which will be sent out to skippers in the coming weeks to share with their crew.

This year’s fleet is already shaping up to be a big group, so enter today and join in on the fun! Entry fees are discounted now through May 4 on Yacht Scoring. Fees go up on May 5 and entry closes at 1800 on Thursday, May 22.

Head to the Block Island Race website for the Notice of Race and more information!