Where are you going to? If you are going east to Block Island,
Newport, etc and the tide in the Race/Gut is against you, just go down
Fisher Island Sound and out Watch Hill
Passage. Alternately, pass through the passage East of Plum between Plum Island and Gull Island. The current rip there is very short and manageable when it is against you.
If you are coming from the west and going into Gardiner's Bay or Peconic area, then Plum Gut is the closest entrance. Just have the tide with you and you will be swept in OK. There really isn't much of a slack tide - it turns almost instantly and there is only a short time of non-ripping water around slack. Don't try going through in a full-throat roar against you - the
shipping there is heavy and you won't have much speed or control.
Mark