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Banner file photo
This year’s schooner regatta will pit 30 sailing ships against one another in several classes. |
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Schooner regatta sets sail Sunday
PROVINCETOWN — It’s hard to believe that the Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta and Yacht Race was on death’s door only a few months ago.
Cancelled by Don Murphy, the former head of the regatta organizing committee, when he stepped down in the spring and no one stepped up to take his place, the four-year-old event was rescued by Cooper Ray and Ken DiGregorio, two Los Angeles residents who spend summers in Provincetown. The regatta will kick off this Friday with a full weekend of events, 12 schooners committed to racing and 18 smaller boats racing in three other classes.
The schooners include the Alabama, Roseway, Bay Lady II and Hindu. In addition, the schooner Spirit of Massachusetts will be returning to the regatta. All the sailing vessels are scheduled to unfurl their racing sails around noon on Sunday, after a parade of sails beginning at 11 a.m. in Provincetown Harbor.
“We’re going to have a Class A [schooner] race that’s going to be gorgeous,” Ray said.
Francis “Flyer” Santos has been named honorary commodore for the regatta and yacht race, honoring “a lifetime of merit and contribution to the maritime heritage of Provincetown and Cape Cod,” Ray said.
“The regatta weekend will be dedicated to Santos to recognize his contribution to the heritage and culture of Provincetown,” Ray said in a press release.
The regatta weekend begins Friday with a free showing of the 1937 movie “Captains Courageous” at 7:30 p.m. at The Cape Inn. On Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m., there will be free tours of the visiting schooners at MacMillan Pier. On Saturday evening from 8 p.m. to midnight, there will be a Crew Party at the end of Fisherman’s Wharf. The public is invited and the $10 admission will cover dinner and entertainment, provided by the Provincetown Jug Band and deejay Auby.
On Sunday, race day begins at 11 a.m. with a parade of sails in Provincetown Harbor. The races will launch at approximately noon. The weekend will conclude Sunday night with an awards banquet at the Crown & Anchor, where the committee will award the trophy cups, including the Rose Dorothea Cup, given to the fastest schooner. There will also be a special award given to Santos. The public is invited to the awards banquet and the ticket price is $10.
“Mindful of the important role 19th- and 20th-century schooners played in the maritime commerce of Provincetown, the Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta’s mission is to celebrate not only the importance of Grand Banks schooners in the town’s history, but her fishing heritage and the cultural impact of this industry,” Ray said.
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Sep 6th, 2007