Race Week Raffle

There is one characteristic of sailboat racing that few other sports enjoy: tradition.  Whether it’s the tradition of yacht club hospitality, the tradition of making new sailing friends everywhere you go or the tradition of sailors helping out another sailor in need.  When it comes to the Storm Trysail Club’s Block Island Race Week, we have directed the tradition of helping others to the island and community that host our regatta every other year through the Race Week Raffle.

BIRW 2011 will be the fifth time the STC has stepped-up and provided a helping hand to the sailors and citizens of Block Island.  After first Raffle, in 2003, when the STC presented checks totaling over $7,000 to the Block Island Rescue Squad and other community programs, the island’s residents were overwhelmed by the sailors’ generosity.  Little did they know what would follow as each BIRW Raffle generated bigger and bigger donations to Block Island charities.  In 2009, the STC raised over $16,000 with the proceeds going towards restoration of the North Light and our continued support of the Rescue Squad.  This year, we’re looking to exceed that number with the proceeds again going to the Rescue Squad plus the BI Maritime Institute and the Early Learning Center.

So what can you win?  You could be the winner of a Rolex Oyster Submariner from Rolex USA or a trip to the Bitter End or one of the other great gifts from Lewmar, Gill, Mt Gay, Soundview Millworks and much  more.

 
 


Steve Draper presented donations from the proceeds of the BIRW raffle on behalf of the Storm Trysail Club, to Kate McConville of the Rescue Squad and Gil Plumb of the North Light Foundation. Photo courtsy of BI Times.

Many thanks to those who participated in the 2009 raffle. The proceeds from the raffle benefit the Rescue Squad and the North Light Foundation. The grand prize was a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner timepiece and additional prizes were supplied by Mount Gay, Gill, Vineyard Vines, Heineken, Bitter End Yacht Club and other Block Island Race Week sponsors. The Storm Trysail Club expresses its apprecation to all the sponsors who donated prizes for the raffle.