In the sailing community, everyone knows the Senator’s Cup is a world-class race. Not so well know is that this exciting match-race regatta, which began Thursday and continues through Saturday at the Inner Harbor, benefits several local charities.

Proceeds from the Cup races, which began in Baltimore in 1990, support the Living Classrooms Foundation, the Special Olympics and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

Special Olympics athletes — guided by one professional sailor per boat — will complete in their own Senator’s Cup race Saturday (from noon to 3 p.m.) from the Inner Harbor to the Domino’s Sugar plant and back.

“This will be great for our athletes,” said Tom Schniedwind, executive vice president of sports marketing for Special Olympics Maryland. “They'll be racing with some of the best sailors in the world.”

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The Cup itself brings together many of sailing’s elite. This year’s lineup includes Gavin Brady, an Annapolis resident who won the event in 1995, world champion Chris Larson and America’s Cup veteran John Bertrand.

“This is an opportunity for some good racing,” said 2003 winner Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, who races for the U.S. Olympic team and plans to sail in this year’s America’s Cup. “I’m excited to compete.”

“We will sail from Fort McHenry to the Key Bridge,” said Regatta chairman John Pica, who was at the helm when Brady won the Cup. “How [the helmsmen] engage each other is equivalent to a boxing match.”

“The fight is on before the race even starts,” said helmsman Dave Perry of Rhode Island, a match-race champion. “You start by circling around each other, looking for weaknesses.”

“We’re certainly friends on shore, but on the water, we’re competitors,” Hutchinson said.

IF YOU GO

Today’s race begins at 10:30 a.m.; Saturday’s race begin at 10:45 a.m., boats leave Finger Pier by the Maryland Science Center.