More than 200 sailboat and 30 powerboat racers are readying their boats and crews for the first big regatta of the season, the 38th
annual Figawi race weekend. Registration for the event — which includes the charity ball, the Figawi race from Hyannis to Nantucket on Saturday May 23, parties and entertainment afloat and ashore, and the Return Figawi from Nantucket to Hyannis on Memorial Day — closed Friday. More than 3,000 sailors, visitors, and residents from on and off Cape plan to attend one or more of the Figawi events. Racers this year include a Kennedy — whether Sen. Ted Kennedy will race is still an open question — but his 50 ft. Concordia yawl Mya is entered again this year, just a year after he reclaimed the helm following a diagnosis of brain cancer. Last year, sons Ted Jr. and Patrick raced the boat to Nantucket, where Sen. Kennedy and wife Vicki met them and sailed home in the Return Figawi. Someone from the Kennedy family, whether it’s the Senator, one of his sons, or a nephew or two, has helmed a boat in the Figawi since the 1970s. This year there’s a new Seannine in the race. Seannine, the Cape Dory 38 sailed and raced for many years by Cyril O’Leary of Fairhaven or, in recent years, by son Patrick, sank last year off the coast of Nova Scotia. The senior O’Leary was attempting to cross the Atlantic alone aboard the boat named for his daughter when he encountered the tail end of a hurricane. The classic fiberglass and teak hull with its unique stern-mounted radar dome overturned in thrashing waters. O’Leary was rescued by the Canadian Coast Guard and returned home after recovering from minor injuries. Sadly, the Seannine could not be salvaged. The new Seannine is a 40-ft. Island Packet, and Patrick O’Leary will take it through its paces in this year’s Figawi. Other local entrants include: Areion, Quest 33, George Nelson, So. Dartmouth Ballybunion, Beneteau 40, Richard Murphy, Westport Ballyhoo, J-29, Davis Sanford, Marion Boogie, Pearson 30, Harold Cooper, So. Dartmouth Calusa, Sabre 38, Peter Holmes, So. Dartmouth Courtship, C & C 35, Josh Peck, Mattapoisett Cricket, Passport 40, C. Brad Curtis, So. Dartmouth Fast Food, J-24, Bonnie Kirchner, Marion Helios, Alberg 35, Charles Prefontaine, Mattapoisett In Deep, Dufour Classic 38, Bob Warren, Mattapoisett Kinship, Baltic 52, Perry and Walsh, Dartmouth. Also, Ladybug, Catalina 36, David Tremblay, Wareham Legacy II, Beneteau First 42, Tom Denney, Marion Midnight Moonlight, Taylor 45, Mass. Maritime Academy, Buzzards Bay Red Sky, Bennett 48, MMA, Buzzards Bay Sarabande, Offshore 38, John Saunders, New Bedford Sequoia, Little Harbor 50, Ted Severance, Marion Shindig, Andrews 68, Arthur Burke, So. Dartmouth Spice, J-44, Kevin McLaughlin, Fairhaven The Ballyhoo, J-36, Wes McMichael, Marion Ursus Maritimus, J-120, Jim Masiero, Marion Valhalla, Wauquiez 38, Henry Knutsen, Fairhaven Wicked, J-124, Douglas Curtiss, So. Dartmouth.
from Marion