The organizing committee for the Storm Trysail Club’s 50th anniversary Block Island Race Week, scheduled June 21-26, has set out an ambitious sustainability program and an important part of the plan is a new app for use with iOS and Android operating systems.
The app, launched in Beta version, will be the primary vehicle for all communications to competitors about Block Island Race Week, including daily notices and results, and will eliminate many forms of paper communication, such as the daily newspaper.
“Simply by eliminating the daily newspaper, which was printed in Massachusetts and then delivered to the island by truck and ferry, we significantly reduce the carbon footprint of Block Island Race Week,” chairman Peter Rugg said. “Nearly every competitor has a Smartphone, so this is the most direct way to communicate with them.”
“Conceptually, we wanted a centralized hub to host all content related to race week,” said Ed Cesare, the technical director for race week and a co-creator of the app. “The Yacht Scoring and WindCheck portals are most important because they link to all of the primary information. The social media links serve nicely to round out the app’s homepage with what competitors and their families and friends are doing.”
