200+ Young Sailors Set For Marblehead Junior Race Week

More than 200 young sailors from throughout New England will descend on Marblehead next week for three days of racing in the historic Marblehead Junior Race Week regatta. Pleon Yacht Club, the oldest junior yacht club in the world, hosts the July 23rd-25th event with assistance from the Boston, Corinthian, Eastern and Manchester clubs to manage racing areas for multiple divisions of Optimists, Club 420s and Lasers off the Marblehead coastline. If last year’s event is any indication, the racing promises to be highly competitive, as many of the top five places in 2017 were decided by narrow margins, including several tie-breakers.

Marblehead Junior Race Week was first established as part of Marblehead Race Week in 1889. The junior event became its own regatta in the mid-1990s and continues to be one of the most highly attended regional events on the youth-racing calendar. The morning harbor starts are a spectacle of sails and the on-land activity is a testament to how the sport of sailing fosters responsibility and camaraderie as the kids ages seven to 19 can be seen rigging and fixing their boats, helping fellow competitors and even participating in running the event.

“Junior Race Week has always been one of my favorite parts of summer,” said 19-year- old Pleon Commodore Chloe Brown. “As a youth-run club, a love for sailing is the most important thing to us and hosting such a high caliber event is a true celebration of our sport.”

For more information about Marblehead Junior Race Week and Pleon, visit www.pleon.org and follow on Twitter @PleonYC