77th Annual Block Island Race: A Game of Chutes and Ladders

28 May 2024 - The 77th annual Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race took place this past weekend, challenging sailors with light winds and testing their patience and strategy. Starting and finishing in Stamford, CT, the fleet of 76 boats embarked on the 186-nautical-mile journey around Block Island. Described by some as a race of “chutes and ladders,” with multiple restarts in light conditions, 52 boats successfully completed the race in light conditions.

David Greenstein's Mills 68, Space Monkey, was the first to cross the finish line, completing the race in 27 hours and 11 minutes. However, the ultimate victory in the ORC class was claimed by Andrew Berdon's TP52, Summer Storm, with a corrected time of 25 hours and 55 minutes.

Andrew Berdon, now on his third Summer Storm, praised his crew for their exceptional performance. He recounted the significant logistical effort, led by project manager Alec Snyder, required to get the boat from Kiel, Germany to the starting line within a few short months. Once on the course, Berdon emphasized the importance of staying in touch with the larger boats and making strategic decisions. 

"The key factor was staying in touch with these bigger boats throughout the race. None of them disappeared over the horizon," he said. A decisive move north to the Connecticut shore after re-entering Long Island Sound helped Summer Storm stay in the breeze while the wind died down for the rest of the ORC fleet, securing their overall win. "That's just the nature of racing on Long Island Sound," Berdon remarked.

In the doublehanded fleet, John Feleciano and Zach Doerr from NEKA Sailing in the Figaro 2 finished in the top spot for ORC, while Peter Becker and Adrien Blanc finished first in the J/105 Young American for PHRF.

Full results

The post-race party at Stamford Yacht Club was well attended, with great music and a vibrant atmosphere as the awards for the class winners were handed out. A special thanks goes to Raymarine for their generous giveaway of an electronics package, which went to doublehanded skipper Marc Berkowitz.

The Block Island Race, as always, is a true test of strategy, resilience and determination of all participating sailors. Sometimes you ride the elevator, and some times you fall down the ladder, but it's a great race to shake out the cobwebs before summer.