Sunny skies and crisp summer breezes combined with two full days of stellar competition as the Menemsha Pond Racers won the inaugural Vineyard Herreshoff Cup this weekend.

The competition was held June 28 and 29 on Menemsha Pond and featuring sailors from the Edgartown Yacht Club and the Menemsha Pond Racers.

The first-ever Vineyard Herreshoff Cup takes place this weekend. "The spirit of it all is to have fun and enjoy it," Edward Miller said. "We hope this will become an annual event that grows in popularity."

After qualifying for the Fritz Mark trophy race in Hyannis last weekend, the Vineyarders thought they had missed the chance to move on to the national invitational, despite a hard-fought comeback at the end. Now another team has dropped out and Island sailors will race in Cambridge this weekend.

Nat Benjamin’s Juno and Ross Gannon’s Eleda placed first in their class at the Caribbean regatta held over the weekend. Races concluded Monday. Eleda also won the Arne Frisell Prize for greatest attention to structural integrity and safety.

Wow! The new generation of AC 72 yachts (America’s Cup-designed, 72 feet long) are impressive in both design and speed. These new racing machines are sexy, fast and dangerous. They are also exciting and fun to watch at the match race in San Francisco Bay.

Ten sailboats participated in last Saturday’s 25th annual Pat West Gaff Rig and Schooner Race. The race from the outer Vineyard Haven harbor to Tarpaulin Cove and back began at 11 a.m. in light and variable winds. Zoli Clarke and Ryan Payne of Vineyard Haven sailed the Gannon and Benjamin Hazel 18 to victory.

Of the 10 boats, six were schooners. The Soros/DiBiaso team won the schooner class in their 65-foot Gannon and Benjamin schooner Juno.