Penultimate Day Sees First Repeat Race Winner
Newport, R.I., USA (September 16, 2011) – The Chamber of Commerce could not have arranged a more spectacular day for the 22 competing yacht club teams, representing 16 nations from six continents, than what was delivered today after a cold front that passed through the area overnight left behind a classic New England fall day to tantalize competitors at the 2011 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. And after sailing eight races over three days on courses set north of Newport’s Pell Bridge, with the breeze from the north-northwest, and an ebb tide, the race committee made the decision to send the competitors out of the now-familiar Narragansett Bay to Rhode Island Sound for two races on the penultimate day of the series.
Remarkably, the first race of the day saw yet another yacht club team winning a race. Eastern Yacht Club became the ninth race winner, in nine races, when they took over the lead early in the race and held it all the way to the finish line.
“It was a good one,” said Bill Lynn, helm of the Eastern Yacht Club team of the race as he explained that the EYC sailors liked the conditions today. “I think we’re fast , but I don’t think we’re the fastest boat here, so I think getting out into some shifty, variable breeze with not perfectly flat water, suits our style in these boats a little better. We finally got a great start, which is kind of nice. It was probably our best start of the series so far, and then we just were patient. When we came off the windward end [of the starting line] and tacked onto port there were an awful lot of boats on port way up inside us. It looked grim there for a while. But we were going to stick to our guns and wait it out. And we did, and the righty finally came in at the end and got us around the mark in third and then after that it was playing the shifts [to stay at the top].“
New Day, New Winners
Newport, R.I., USA (September 15, 2011) - A lack of breeze and fog contributed to a brief postponement ashore this morning to push back the start of the third day of racing at the 2011 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. By noon, however, the 22 competing yacht club teams had returned to now-familiar territory north of Newport's Pell Bridge and, with two winners in the two races held today, continued the established pattern that has now seen eight different teams win the eight races sailed thus far in the series.
"Today was a different world for us," said Johannes Polgar, helm for Norddeutscher Regatta Verein from Hamburg, Germany, which won the first race of the day. "We just got everything a lot more in control and we started actually looking out of the boat, watching the shifts, getting hold of the current. It paid off. The boats [Swan 42s] are really even and nice to sail. I think the boat is not the big issue. Certainly for me it's the first time handling a crew of nine guys and that is something different. You've got to get everyone working in the right place and at the right moment. I think we're getting better and better. We are learning a lot and the learning curve is really steep."
Royal Canadian Yacht Club has the Midas Touch
Newport, R.I., USA (September 14, 2011) – Returning to upper Narragansett Bay for the second day of the 2011 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex has proven beneficial for at least one of the 22 yacht club teams – Royal Canadian Yacht Club – which again displayed remarkable consistency on the race course. And in a repeat of yesterday’s prevailing theme of tight competition, today’s three races were won by three different clubs which means that there have been no duplicate winners thus far in the six-race series.
“We were probably the biggest movers,” said Peter McChesney, helm for the Annapolis Yacht Club team who has only sailed in Newport a handful of times previously, including the the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup U.S. Qualifying Series in 2010 in which the AYC team finished second to earn the opportunity to race in this event. AYC was 10th overall after yesterday’s first day of racing, and moved up to third overall with 43 points after finishes of 6-1-3 today. “We just got off the line better today in every race, and gave our tactician [John Torgerson] the opportunity to make good decisions. If you get a good start it’s easier to make those decisions. Our tactician took what we gave him and did a great job of calling tactics, and the crew work was essentially flawless. Everything just went our way.”
Royal Canadian Yacht Club Takes Lead After Three Races On Day One
Newport, R.I., USA (September 13, 2011) – Three races and three race winners within a very tight 22-boat fleet were the hallmarks of the first day of racing at the 2011 New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup presented by Rolex. Racing in upper Narragansett Bay, north of Newport’s Pell Bridge, the competitors got down to business in roughly 10 knots of southwesterly breeze, which built through the afternoon to a south-soutwesterly in the upper teens. The close and intense action provided plenty of work for the 10 umpires, who were on the water in teams of two, and the delivery of instant justice meant that the yacht club teams knew pretty much where they stood at the end of racing without having to wait for protests to be decided.
In a strong start to the series, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) team has taken the overall lead on finishes of 2-1-4 to demonstrate that, having placed second in the inaugural event in 2009, they are back and playing to win. Eight of the 10 crew sailing for RCYC competed in 2009, including helm Terry McLaughlin, a silver medallist in the 1984 Olympic Games and skipper of Canada I in the 1983 America’s Cup Trials.
Read more: Royal Canadian Yacht Club Takes Lead After Three Races On Day One
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