Sailors seas the day in Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD – Its official name everywhere but Marblehead may be the National Offshore One Design Regatta.But within the confines of the town, this is still Race Week, which this year the Eastern Yacht Club is hosting. And it?s a town-wide civic event in which sailors of all ages congregate from all over the world to compete in single and team sailing events.Since 1889, Race Week has been run by the Marblehead Racing Association Committee. And each year, the event radiates with a passionate love for competitive sailing.Take Norman Cressy, a lifelong sailor and longtime supporter of Race Week. He expresses his fondness of the sport by telling of how it began for him.In 1949 at the age of 10, Cressy decided he wanted to take up sailing. Since then, he hasn?t missed a single race. Cressy said Race Week has always been a big part of his life, and has become just as major a part of the lives of any who get involved.A community is formed out of sailing together, and that community became an important part of the town of Marblehead, he said.?This is a very traditional week for Marblehead,” Cressy said. “This town has seen 126 years of sailing and will most definitely see more. It draws people in from all over as time goes by. There are participants from Hingham and New York, from right in New England to across the world. The sailing community comes together right here.”While a national sponsor takes care of the actual competitive aspect of the regatta – it is now the National Offshore One-Design Regatta (NOOD) – all other aspects of the event are local, and historic.And it?s not just the sailing, but all the people that reconnect with each other year after year.Susan “Susie” Schneider, a member of the Marblehead Racing Association Committee, expressed her love of the sport with a lifelong past of sailing like Cressy.?The sailing community seems big, but, really, it isn?t,” she said. “Why? Well, because we?re a bunch of people that are just focused on sailing. The best part is coming together every year to celebrate and appreciate the sport as a competition and an all-around fun time. It?s fantastic.”The camaraderie among the sailors is always in high spirits, especially on the seas during competition. Everyone genuinely looks forward to reconnecting, especially if the same people have been competing year after year. Sailing season starts in April and runs up into November, so the community is alive and thriving on the oceans for quite some time as people take their various trips up the coast to compete in various events.