On a beautiful June 11 Saturday morning with light winds out of the south, two boats embarked from Higgins Yacht Yard to move their boats to Newport, RI.
After months of boat preparation, safety at sea seminars and training, gathering and testing equipment, and doing trial runs to test the crews, the time had come to quietly make the voyage to Newport where the 235-mile race started on Friday, June 17 at 2 p.m. More than 130 boats started the race (many dropped out due to forecast heavy weather conditions. The race on average takes four to five and a half days.
For the sailors on these two Eastern Shore boats, this truly represented amateur sport at its best. No corporate sponsors; no logos on their sails or boat sides. Just boat race numbers: #2213 Flyer (Miles River YC and Tred Avon YC) and #2021 Nicole (TAYC and CCA), two boats from St. Michaels.
