FIGAWI RACE Fun For All

(Hyannis to Nantucket- May 29)- Over thirty J's raced the 39th Annual Figawi Race from Hyannis to Nantucket on May 29th, which saw fifteen to twenty-knot southwest winds and a steep Nantucket Sound chop of 3-5 feet.  The race is a "pursuit style" event where the slowest boats rated under PHRF handicap start first at a specific starting time, then in succession, all faster boats start with the biggest boats, like the J/160 starting last.  For the J's this meant the J/24s started first followed by an assortment of racing/ cruising J's spread throughout six divisions, including one entire "sprit division" that was 76% J's!

In Division S- Sprit Boats, the J/105 VIXEN skippered by Chris Beane placed first by just 1:40 over Wagner Reservitz's J/105 DARK'N'STORMY.  Third was David Murphy's well-traveled J/122 PUGWASH another three minutes behind.  Interestingly, VIXEN's finish time of 14:32:51 put her in third overall of all 230+ boats, meaning third fastest boat to finish to Nantucket!

In Division A- Spinnaker, four J's sailed with Alan Fougere's J/160 AVATAR leading the J's home finishing at 14:40:40.  In Division B- Spinnaker, four J's sailed with Mark Scheffer's J/35 SURPRISE leading all other J's finishing at 15:03:32.  In Division C- Spinnaker, three J's sailed with Ira Perry's J/29 SEEFEST leading the J parade finishing at 14:39:15.  In Division D- Spinnaker, four J/24s raced and Jonathan Wenderto's J/24 DRAGIN-Z-BALZ (?) finished second in class finishing at 14:48:58.  In Division F- Non-spinnaker, two J's cruised over to Nantucket with Bill Jones' J/40 SMITTEN finishing second overall!

The FIGAWI race is first and foremost a "fun" family event that hosts a FIGAWI Charity Ball to benefit 24 Cape Cod charities prior to the start of the race.  According to folklore, a long time ago , three sailors started out from Hyannis to race their sailboats to Nantucket. That race would be the first of the Figawi Race Weekends and the beginning of what has become a Cape Cod tradition.  Since that inauspicious start in 1972, whether it was the charm of a race to Nantucket, or maybe just the personal appeal of the early founders is really not clear, but Figawi began to grow by leaps and bounds. A lay day was added in 1978 along with a race back to Hyannis, as the race committee, now formerly organized, turned the Figawi from a one day race into a three day weekend event.  Today, the Figawi has grown into one of the premier sailboat races on the East coast.. a great way to start the summer sailing season! Join them next year for great sailing on Nantucket Sound, great fun and camaraderie on the beautiful island of Nantucket, and memories of being part of a great tradition.  For more FIGAWI Sailing information