6/27/09 - It’s 8:15, Monday morning, June 22. After a long winter hibernation, Payne’s Dock throngs with activity. Sailboats line the slips, sailors crisscross the main dock, and vendors bring carts with lunches and other provisions. The first Storm Trysail race of 2009 is about to begin.

But the crew of the racing boat Resolute appears not so resolute about getting under way on this dark gray, blustery morning. One of the crewmen, Brian Coleman, admits that, indeed, they’d rather be at the Oar on a day like today. But after posing for a few pictures and readying their sailboat for the race, they begin to look more determined.

Resolute is a J/44 class boat racing in the “one design category,” in which the boats are all the same, rather than varied with equalizing handicaps. It is co-owned and co-captained by brothers Don and Rick Rave, who describe themselves as “Irish twins,” in part because they are one year apart in age, and in part, because they also look alike. Both are sturdily built with ruddy complexions, light blue eyes and graying hair.

While many crews come without their families, Resolute is a family affair. Wives, children and grandchildren are all spending the week on Block Island, along with the sailors, renting on shore.

Before they owned a racing boat, the Rave family came to Block Island on the sailboat Halfmine. They started out by anchoring. Then, the two men said in alternation, “Our wives found out about renting moorings, then they found out about getting a slip at the docks, then about renting a house … and there they are.”

Several of the younger Rave generation now join Don and Rick to race. Rick’s daughter Tracy is in the pit and Don’s son Teddy trims the mainsail. Rick’s son-in-law Andrew is the bowman, a difficult position, Don says, because he takes care of everything there on short notice from the back of the boat, where the tactical decisions are made.

The Rave brothers grew up in Oyster Bay, Long Island, and began crewing for friends with sailboats at an early age. They purchased Resolute five years ago because they wanted to race and their friends no longer owned boats.

The entire crew is volunteers. There are no professional sailors or merchant mariners aboard, although bowman Andrew is a real marine. Rick has worked for UPS as a driver for 30 years, and Don is a maritime attorney who practices law with their father.

In 2008, Resolute competed in the Newport, R.I. to Bermuda race, and came in second in its class among 14 boats, and 10th overall among approximately 200 boats. Almost all of the crew of 11 made that sail for the first time, without having been in open seas before. Because of their inexperience, their goal was to finish, not to win, so they were surprised by their success.

Their lack of experience included not knowing how to provision the boat, but they were fortunate that a woman who signed on to sail with them did. Cathy Bontempo volunteered to cook, and ordered and bought everything they needed. Hers was the hardest job, Don said, because she was below with all the hatches closed in the rough but warm weather, cooking or serving all day. Not all crewmembers eat at the same time, he explained, because those who’ve had night watch are sleeping during the day.

The sail was not easy going to or returning from Bermuda. According to both men, there were a lot of scary days. During the race, said Don, who suffers frequently from seasickness, the boat was going to windward in large waves for three days. They would hit a sudden big trough and then crash, putting a lot of strain on the boat.

It was dark, Don said, when the deck started to pull away from the bulkhead, and they had to change to a smaller sail. But, they held on to finish second in their class.

On the return voyage, they had a skeleton crew and encountered even worse weather, sailing in 15-foot waves. For five days, Rick said, “We were heeling. We couldn’t stand up straight.”

They’re not sure whether they would enter that race again. It was expensive, and took six months of preparations. Five of the crew took a safety-at-sea course, which is required for 30 percent of the crew, and they had to purchase safety equipment, including two life rafts. Perhaps an even more overriding reason they’re not sure about the open seas race is that the memory of those rough seas is too fresh. Don opined that maybe that’s why the Newport to Bermuda run is only held every other year.

Although not everyone on board is a family member, this is a tightly knit crew. Steve Cook, Brian Coleman and Doug Berg have been with Resolute since the Raves started racing it, and they picked up Thom Hering, Rob Windsor and Charlie Powers along the way. The camaraderie among them is strong.

They were hoping to have a good Race Week here. And, win or lose, they probably did.