Health & Sports

story by Antonia DePace

photography by Onne van der Wal Photography & Video

This year’s Opera House Cup Regatta, taking place August 20, marks the annual event’s 51st anniversary. “This represents the longest continuous running classic wooden boat regatta on the East Coast, and probably the U.S.,” says Phil Smith, Opera House Cup Committee chair and owner of Annie, a 1957 Aage Nielsen classic wooden boat that competes in the regatta. The race’s tradition has remained mostly the same over the past 51 years, except for the adoption of the pursuit start, allowing competitors to start at different times based on their craft’s handicap. The regatta serves as the grand finale to Nantucket Race Week. “It is special to see so many beautiful boats together, sailed by families and some of the top sailors in the world,” says Diana Brown, president and chief executive of Nantucket Community Sailing.

This year’s race includes Ranger, the stunning J-Class sailboat featured on this issue’s cover. Designed by Olin Stephens and Starling Burgess, the 135-foot vessel is racing in the Opera House Cup Regatta for the first time this year. “Ranger is the embodiment of a golden period in nautical innovation, maritime engineering and sailing tradition that reflected the competitiveness among nations as well as the corporate titans of their day—Vanderbilt, Lipton, Sopwith, etc.—but is part of a broader sailing tradition characterized by sportsmanship, the highest levels of competition and old-world elegance,” says the racing yacht’s current owner, who is also a longtime Nantucket homeowner. Ranger comes to the island with a successful 2022 season behind her, including first place in St. Barths Bucket, third in the Superyacht Cup Palma, second in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the overall J-Class season winner.

This year’s race will bring 300 boats and 3,000 participants to the island. operahousecup.org