This blog is best read and viewed starting at the bottom and working up.

I was part of the crew of Moondance, Swan 44, owned by Cliff Crowley and an active racer from Black Rock Yacht Club. We raced in the 61st Annual Block Island Race, organized by the Storm Trysail Club.

We started Friday late afternoon. The course is 186 miles: start off Stamford, go around Block Island (leaving it to starboard), and back to Stamford. We had light breeze when we had any, lots of fog, and a few rain drops. We abandoned our race Saturday evening because we would have finished Sunday evening at best (usually it's a Saturday night or Sunday morning finish).

I snap photos when I can during brief quiet spots in the competition (and before & after). These are my property and may not be used without my permission. I blog them because I am happy to share them with teammates, friends and family.

The pictures I post are generally reduced in resolution. I retain the originals (about ten times larger, with better color and detail). If you would like the originals please send me an email. The 24 pictures at the bottom of this blog are from my teammate Matthias and are posted with his permission.

Fair winds,

Rando _/)

The picture of us at top is a repost (without permission, actually) from the StormTrySail website. Taken just after the start, I believe.

That's me, making sure we get home safely through the fog on Saturday night.

We aborted our race 7PM Saturday night and started motoring home. We passed these folks, Affinity, a J-42, and they were still racing. I think they pulled the plug not too long after and motored home to Newport.

Above: low lying fog hides the hull of this sloop.
Below: we went through the race with a healthy following current. The water was really turbulent as we passed Race Rock.














Our assymetrical kite (Saturday, late morning, still foggy).


Mensae, Swan 56, sailed past us in the fog.

Above: Rick & Dan Oricchio
Below: Robbie goes aloft to rig our radar reflector.










Above is Alchemy, the Andrews designed maxi previously racing on the left coast. Now she's sailed by the cadets at the Merchant Marine Academy.

Below is Aera, the Jason Ker designed 55-footer based out of England. They won the Sinney-Hobart race a couple of years ago and intend on winning Bermuda.








Yep, I took a lot of photos before the start. Why not? Finally we started the race in light air (which we would be seeing a lot more of!)























The 24 photos below were taken by Matthias Mueller and I've posted them with his permission. He retains all rights.