Lighthouses serve as warnings of rocky shores, shoals and places to stay clear of.

But on July 28th a group of intrepid Edgewood Yacht Club sailors headed to a lighthouse perched on a mount of rocks off East Providence with the aim of circumventing it and sailing back to the club.

This event , the  9th Annual Pomham Rocks Beetle Cat Circumnavigation Regatta , was not to go without spectators. In fact,  in what could be the first of a kind event, more than 30 spectators were shuttled to the lighthouse to catch the action and tour the lighthouse thanks to the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse.  The Friends dock their launch at EGY and schedule tours of the restored lighthouse built in 1871.

This event was started by Bill Grenga, a former head of the Edgewood Sailing School and Edgewood Yacht Club member, to expand the racing opportunities for the EYC beetle Cat sailing fleet beyond its usual Wednesday night racing around the EYC mooring field.

Bill designated the event as a fundraiser for the Rhode Island Alzheimer’s Association and collected voluntary race fees from the Beetle Cat skippers to donate to that organization, because Bill’s wife Julie has been afflicted with Alzheimer’s. The event initially required 2 sailors in each boat – a skipper and crew – though the challenges of the COVID pandemic caused EYC to shift to a “crew optional” mode. Since its inception,  the race  has raised over $10,000 for the Rhode Island Alzheimer’s Association. The  regatta starts with a race around the lighthouse and was followed by two shorter races around the markers of the yacht club docks.

This year, George Shuster and his crew Trenton Bartro, in the Beetle Cat SEASHELL, won that circumnavigation race. The  trophy for the regatta went to Jim Myers in the Beetle Cat KAT, which topped SEASHELL in the other two, shorter races.