Marblehead Wednesday Evening Races

What a great way to spend a summer evening out on the water racing in the Marblehead Evening Races. The Boston Yacht Club is the organizing authority. For boats to participate they must have a valid PHRFNE certificate.

What this all means is the sailboats that compete are not all alike. This translates some boats might be longer, lighter, have more sail area, and all kinds of different features. Like the game of golf each sailboat is given a handicap. The handicap is measured in seconds per mile they must add to their overall start to finish time to calculate their corrected time. It is possible for the sailboat that crosses over the finish line in first place could actually place in last using the corrected time.

This is quite the contrary to One Design Sailboat racing where the sailboats are all the same and must comply with the strict restrictions by the fleet. There is no handicap - how you finish is how it goes in the score book.

Below I did a little photo editing. At the start of the race the wind was good so the first windward mark was set a lot farther than I would have positioned it. My sixty years of sailing in Marblehead waters has taught me that historically the evening summer winds tend to die down. The photograph represents how I imagined the sailors were sailing back to the harbor. Still a nice way to end the day. This is the first boat to round the windward mark. I simply altered the skyline.