We Love Nantucket Race Week!

People on Nantucket live by the wind. Well, those who sail anyway. They talk about wind like skiers talk about different types of snow. There is no end to the ways sailing folk will dissect the wind on any given day.

During the Nantucket Race Week experience, this need for wind is even more pronounced. A week dedicated to the sailing life and filled with social events, regattas, talks, and—this year—a gala celebrating 30 years of Nantucket Community Sailing, Nantucket Race Week reminds us why we love the sailing community and why Nantucket is at the heart of it.

Nantucket Race Week's founders envisioned an event that would celebrate Nantucket’s passion for sailing and bring the sailing community together while also ensuring more people could have access to sailing. Race Week benefits Nantucket Community Sailing—an organization that has been spreading the sailing gospel in Nantucket for 30 years and has granted over $150,000 dollars annually in sailing scholarships to island youth. 

Highlights + Challenges

This year’s Race Week was full of highs and a few challenges. One highlight for all? Cole Brauer speaking about being the first American woman to join just a handful of other women who have circumnavigated the world, SOLO. Having entered the Global Solo Challenge, Cole joined 16 other brave (crazy?) souls who solo sailed in a regatta around the world. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Brauer finished in second place! Cole captured the attention of the world with that feat and speaking during Race Week, she captured the hearts of the Nantucket sailing community and inspired many young sailors. 

Holding a week of weather-sensitive events is always fraught with potential for stress and only possible through a logistics-heavy community effort. As far as challenges go, this year’s Race Week definitely saw a few. For one, a lack of consistent wind!  But sailors are the best at knowing how to pivot, so Race Week continued and the passion for sailing never dimmed. 

So, wind or no wind, Nantucket Sailing Week will go on and the support of all involved will ensure that people of all ages on island have access to sailing through Nantucket Community Sailing.

About Nantucket Community Sailing

With a mission to engage people of all ages in the joy of sailing, to offer sailing access to all of Nantucket's youth, to teach life and leadership skills through sailing, and to foster a deep respect for the marine environment, Nantucket Community Sailing makes a big impact on the community of Nantucket. To read more about Nantucket Community Sailing or to support their efforts to make sailing more accessible, click here .