Needing simply not to shoot themselves in the foot to ensure victory in the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, the San Diego Yacht Club dominated the windy final race to stamp their authority on the eighth edition of the world’s premiere Corinthian regatta.

Led by 34-year-old helmsman Tyler Sinks, San Diego’s victory in the final race was their only top-four finish of the regatta and gave them the low score of 43 points, good for an 11-point win over first-time entrant Corinthian Yacht Club of Marblehead, Mass. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron placed third with 55 points for its best result in three attempts. Rounding out the top five were New York Yacht Club, the winner of the inaugural Invitational Cup in 2009 with 62 points, and Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, with 66 points, for its best finish in seven attempts.

The winning San Diego Yacht Club crew at the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup were Tyler Sinks Carissa Crawford, Cameron Hutcheson, Nick Martin (headsail trimmer), Rick Merriman (main trimmer), Al Pleskus, Adam Roberts (tactician), Robert Savoie and Lucy Wallace Photo: Daniel Forster

Joining Sinks, the 2015 team racing world champion, in the crew were Carissa Crawford, Cameron Hutcheson, Nick Martin (headsail trimmer), Rick Merriman (main trimmer), Al Pleskus, Adam Roberts (tactician), Robert Savoie and Lucy Wallace.

The Anthony O'Leary skippered Royal Cork Yacht Club entry on port tack in the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Photo: Daniel Forster

The San Diego crew has many championships to its résumé and is a tight-knit group that goes back to youth sailing days. Sinks, Hutcheson and Martin have sailed the past two Invitational Cups and were part of the crew that won the 2018 Resolute Cup, which qualified San Diego for the 2019 Invitational Cup. Sinks and Wallace raced together at Boston College. Roberts and Martin put forth a 470 campaign for the 2012 Olympics. Merriman is something of an outlier, but he’s almost an essential ingredient if you're aiming to win the Invitational Cup. This is the fourth time he’s won the Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup (previously 2009, ’17, ’21) and he’s the only sailor to win the Corinthian championship more than twice.

“Winning feels awesome,” said Sinks, a three-time collegiate All-American. “This is my third time doing this. We were second the first time, barely missed top spot, and came back two years ago and got third, so we felt there was one podium spot left to grab, and we got it.”

“It’s totally surreal. To win on a big breeze day, you can’t write that fairy tale script any better. We’re on cloud nine right now,” said Roberts, who was a four-time collegiate All-American. “We couldn’t be more thankful to get to sail together in such a premiere event with such amazing sailors all around us. To bring it all together is so much more meaningful for us.”

Nineteen teams from 14 countries competed in the eighth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 51 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 22 countries.

Today’s lone race was sailed in a 20-knot northerly, gusting to 25, in upper Narragansett Bay. The crews were required to reef the jibs and mains on the IC37s, and downwind the crews reported top speeds of 20 knots. The remaining racing was cancelled after the first race so that the fleet could be hauled for safety ahead of the passage of Hurricane Lee, which is expected to pass the southern New England region tonight and tomorrow.

The San Diego Yacht Club won the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup on its third attempt. Previously, it finished third (2021) and second (2019), both times with Sinks at the helm. In ’21, San Diego ran off four straight victories to put themselves in contention for the championship, but an 18-11 in the final two races put paid to their effort. Similarly in 2019, an 18th in the third-to-last race thwarted that run at the championship.

According to coach Ed Adams, a two-time Rolex US Sailing Yachtsman of the Year, the team had two goals this year: achieve the lowest worst score of all the teams in the regatta and pass the most boats after Mark 1. San Diego’s worst score was a 10th in Race 3, no other team had lower than a 14th. San Diego's string of 6-5-5-5-5-6 in the other races showed consistency and an ability to fight back from adversity. Their victory in today’s race lowered their average score per race to 5.375 points.

“Our plan was to try our hardest to be consistent and conservative, but pushing to the top as much as possible,” said Roberts. “The competition here is so stiff. Anything can happen in any race at any moment. You can easily drop into a 12th or 13th after a first. We wanted to make sure we weren’t putting ourselves in positions that were super risky.”

Besides the regatta’s characteristics of tight racing and a leaderboard that saw a lot of movement, the eighth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup showcased a youth movement. Wade Waddell, the Corinthian helmsman, is 26. Jordan Stevenson, helmsman for Royal New Zealand, is 23. Duncan Gregor, the tactician for Royal Hong Kong, is 19 years old.

“Yeah, 100 percent it could be a launching pad for my career,” said Stevenson. “You can’t get much of a bigger stage than this. You’ve got the America’s Cup, which is huge, but in terms of one-design keelboat racing, there’s not really anything bigger than the Invitational Cup. I’m super happy with how the week’s gone and really proud of the crew.”

“I really enjoyed it. It’s one of the more fun regattas I’ve been to, on both the racing and social side,” said Gregor. “Having no discards makes it a unique regatta, every point counts. It’s high scoring, and chipping away, trying to gain every point possible, is fun.”

The ninth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will be held in September 2025, and the Request for Invitation form for the 2024 Resolute Cup, the only surefire pathway for U.S. yacht clubs looking for a berth in the ninth edition, will go live later this year. International yacht clubs are encouraged to email the Sailing Office ([email protected]) to express their interest in receiving an invitation. The invitations for 2025 will go out midway through next year.

2023 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Final Results Newport, R.I. Sept. 9 to 16: Overall standings (through 4 races): 1. San Diego (Calif.) Yacht Club, 6-5-10-5-5-5-6-1, 43; 2. Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), 11-17-1-10-1-8-3-3, 54; 3. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, 4-4-3-16-3-10-13-2, 55; 5. New York (N.Y.) Yacht Club, 14-3-6-6-6-11-12-4, 62; 5. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, 8-11-12-1-14-9-4-6, 65; 6. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, 1-7-5-12-9-18-5-9, 66; 7. Yacht Club Argentino, 2-1-2-17-4-16-15-15, 72; 8. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA), 12-13-15-2-2-16*-8-8, 76; 9. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (CAN), 10*-10-8-14-8-3-11-13, 77; 10. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, 13-12-4-11-15-4-17-7, 83; 11. Howth Yacht Club (IRL), 7-15-17-7-18-17-2-5, 88; 12. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (AUS), 17-6-9*-8-7-13-18-10, 88; 13. Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL), 18-14-9-9-12-12-1-14, 89; 14. Japan Sailing Federation, 3-16-DNF/20-3-19-7-9-12, 89; 15. Yacht Club Punta Del Este (URY), 10-8-18-19-13-1-10-16, 95, 16. Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, La.) 15-9-13-18-16-6-7-11, 95; 17. Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (GER), 19-18-16-4-11-2-14-18, 102; 18. Itchenor Sailing Club (GBR), 5-2-14-15-17-20*-NSC/20-17, 110; 19. Nyländska Jaktklubben (FIN), 16-19-11-13-10-14-16-RET/20, 119.
*1-point penalty

Overall results here.

The underdogs continue to give the established teams a run for their money at the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, the international regatta for Corinthian sailors.

Two Irish teams competing, one each from Howth and Royal Cork Yacht Clubs, are lying 14th and 15th overall in the 19-boat fleet drawn from 14 countries.

On Wednesday, it was Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club’s turn in the limelight as the crew, led by helmsman Peter Backe and wonderkid tactician Duncan Gregor, put forth a wire-to-wire win in the only race of the day. A mid-day frontal passage and accompanying lightning storm cut short the second day of racing.

The Anthony O'Leary skippered Royal Cork Yacht Club entry competing at Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Photo: Daniel Forster

“The breeze was far left during pre-race tuning, and I thought it would start clocking right,” said Gregor, the 18-year-old tactician. “It did do that but took a few steps to make it. The guys further forward than me did well. The boat was going quick, so well done to them.”

Also still in the limelight is Yacht Club Argentino at the head of the fleet. Led by helmsman Cristian Frers, the nephew of legendary yacht designer Germán Frers Jr., the Argentinians sailed a forgetful race, placing 17th. But since the fleet was turned upside down from yesterday, they kept their overall lead by 3 points over Royal Swedish Yacht Club. With a fifth today, San Diego Yacht Club returned to familiar territory on the overall podium in third. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and New York Yacht Club round out the top five.

Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 51 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 22 countries.

After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2023 event will be the third sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills. The strict one-design nature of this purpose-built class, combined with the fact that each boat is owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, ensures a level playing field not seen in any other amateur big-boat sailing competition.

Today’s race on Rhode Island Sound was sailed in a southerly wind, between 175° and 190°, ranging in strength around 10 knots. The Royal Hong Kong crew started at the boat end, quickly tacked to port and then slung it out to the right side. There they found a right-hand oscillation. When they tacked back to starboard, they were well and clear in the lead. Backe, Gregor and crew never looked back.

“We found a really good mode today and just kept hitting the same numbers the whole time and had good speed through the waves. We just kept the boat rolling,” said Backe, the helmsman, who raced previously in the Invitational Cup in 2011. “We were a little disappointed to have only one race today, we felt we could’ve kept it rolling.”

The Yacht Club Argentino crew also would’ve liked a second race, so that tactician Emilio Miguel could correct his mistakes. Miguel felt they had good boatspeed but were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. After the start, they couldn’t tack to the right due to boats to windward of them, and then he said he called bad laylines to the windward mark and leeward gate.

The Royal Cork Yacht Club entry leads a group of boats downwind at the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Photo: Daniel Forster

“There’s so much about fleet management that impacts the end result,” said Miguel. “That’s one of the keys in this fleet. It’s very compact racing, and fleet management is one of the most important parts of tactics. Today, I got it wrong.”

Royal Hong Kong is bucking the sailing maxim where the youngest crewmember is usually positioned on the bow. But Gregor, the 18-year-old tactician, is hardly out of place at the back of the boat. And he’s receiving endless platitudes from his crewmates.

“He seems to have a three-dimensional view of what’s going on,” said Davis. “He’s very calm and has an amazing perception of where the wind is and what’s going on with other boats.”

“Duncan and I sailed the 29er Worlds in Hong Kong in 2018, he was helming, and I was crewing,” said Backe. “Now he’s better than me and teaching me how to sail.”

“It’s pretty cool, the fleet’s pretty good,” said Gregor, who grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Weymouth, England, where he’s racing 49ers. “It’s quite fun sailing bigger boats.”

A mid-day frontal passage and accompanying lightning storm cut short the second day of racing at New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup regatta on Wednesday. The remaining  schedule has been altered due to the approach of Hurricane Lee. The race committee is planning an earlier start time on Thursday and Friday in the likely event there’ll be no racing on Saturday as the hurricane passes offshore Photo: Daniel Forster

Overall standings (through 4 races): 1. Yacht Club Argentino, 2-1-2-17, 23; 2. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, 1-7-5-12, 25; 3. San Diego (Callf.) Yacht Club, 6-5-10-5, 26; 4. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, 4-4-3-16, 27; 5. New York (N.Y.) Yacht Club, 14-3-6-6, 29; 6. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, 8-11-12-1, 32; 7. Itchenor Sailing Club (GBR), 5-2-14-15, 36; 8. Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), 11-17-1-10, 39; 9. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, 13-12-4-11, 40; 10. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (AUS), 17-6-9*-8, 40; 11. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (CAN), 10*-10-8-14, 42; 12. Japan Sailing Federation, 3-16-DNF/20-3, 42; 13. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA), 12-13-15-2, 42; 14. Howth Yacht Club (IRL), 7-15-17-7, 46; 15. Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL), 18-14-9-9, 50; 16. Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, La.) 15-9-13-18, 55; 18. Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (GER), 19-18-16-4, 57; 19. Nyländska Jaktklubben (FIN), 16-19-11-13, 59. * 1-point penalty

On a day when Rhode Island Sound served up some very shifty conditions, helmsman Cristian Frers and the Yacht Club Argentino crew posted a dominant scoreline of 2-1-2 to take the early lead at the eighth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, the 'premiere' one-design regatta for Corinthian sailors, with the low score of 5 points.

Two Irish clubs are competing, with Howth Yacht Club lying 15th and Royal Cork 17th after day one.

Day 1 results can be found here.

Jordan Stevenson and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron crew are second with 11 points, followed closely by Filip Englebert and the Royal Swedish Yacht Club team with 13 points. In a regatta where the boats are very evenly matched in boatspeed, every bit of clear air is an ingredient to success. And the three leaders set themselves apart from the pack by picking the shifts that led to clear sailing lanes.

Day 1 of the eighth edition was for the unsung teams. Yacht Club Argentino, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (Bow 14, at left) and Royal Swedish Yacht Club have collectively sailed 13 Invitational Cups, but none have placed in the top five in any given year. YC Argentino's eighth-place finishes, in 2017 and 2013, are the high-water mark for the three clubs.

Now, however, they occupy the top three spots, while pre-event favourites such as Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron and Southern Yacht Club, winners of the past three editions, trail in 11th and 13th place, respectively.

“It would’ve been easy to be inconsistent today,” said Royal New Zealand helmsman Jordan Stevenson. “Our focus was to get off the line in relatively good stead and hold the line and not make any silly mistakes. We kept it relatively conservative and then built it from there. We felt really fast and tried to utilize that as much as possible.”

Stevenson, aged 23, is one of the youngest helmsmen in the fleet and perhaps that wide-eyed innocence played a part in his team's success.

“I’d say it was a bit of seat-of-the pants sailing,” said Stevenson, who has had success in dinghies and match racing, but not a lot of big boat experience. “I haven’t sailed out there too much before; we had practice yesterday, but not much before that. The biggest thing for us was getting used to where the breeze was shifting as it started to build throughout the day. It was out of left and right, so it was a matter of picking the side we wanted and sticking to it.”

The Royal Swedish Yacht Club came off the starting blocks like gangbusters. They worked the right side of the first beat and when a right-hand oscillation came through, they found themselves in the nicest of places.

“We knew which side of the course we wanted in the first race, got it and then had the fleet beneath us the whole time,” said tactician Marcus Höglander. “In such a tight fleet, once you’re off, you’re off. It’s easy to stay out of trouble. We’re in there for sure. Especially in a regatta like this with no discards, you have to avoid the double digits.”

Racing resumes tomorrow with the first warning signal planned for 1100 hours. Yacht Club Argentino will have the honour of flying the yellow spinnaker awarded to the regatta leader.

“This is the event that you want to come to all your life,” said Frers. “All the competitors want to win, but everyone is friends after sailing. We feel very at home here. It’s very good.”

After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2023 event will be the third sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills. The strict one-design nature of this purpose-built class and the fact that each boat is owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club ensures a level playing field not seen in any other amateur big-boat sailing competition. The regatta will run through Saturday, September 16. Racing started on Tuesday, September 12. 

Overall standings (through 3 races): 1. Yacht Club Argentino, 2-1-2, 5; 2. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, 4-4-3, 11; 3. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, 1-7-5, 13; 4. Itchenor Sailing Club (GBR), 5-2-14, 21; 5. San Diego (Callf.) Yacht Club, 6-5-10, 21; 6. New York (N.Y.) Yacht Club, 14-3-6, 23; 7. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (CAN), 10*-10-8, 28; 8. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, 13-12-4, 29; 9. Corinthian Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), 11-17-1, 29; 10. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, 8-11-12, 31; 11. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (AUS), 17-6-9*, 32; 12. Yacht Club Punta Del Este (URY), 10-8-18, 36; 13. Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, La.) 15-9-13, 37; 14. Japan Sailing Federation, 3-16-DNF/20, 39; 15. Howth Yacht Club (IRL), 7-15-17, 39; 16. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA), 12-13-15, 40; 17. Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL), 18-14-9, 41; 18. Nyländska Jaktklubben (FIN), 16-19-11, 46; 19. Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (GER), 19-18-16, 53.
* 1-point penalty

Anthony O'Leary's Royal Cork Yacht Club is lying fourth overall but can retain its 2019 bronze medal if strong results are secured in Saturday's final two races of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.

Ireland's second team at the event, Howth Yacht Club had its best two results on Thursday at Newport, Rhode Island scoring a 7, 9, their first top tens of the series to be 16th overall.

The story line at the sharp end of the fleet on Day 4 of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup was much the same as on Day 3. San Diego Yacht Club played from in front, starting fast and stretching away to another two wins. For those keeping score at home, that's four consecutive wins across two very different race arenas for Tyler Sinks and crew. Meanwhile, Southern Yacht Club's crew showed again that no one can work out of a jam quite like they can, turning a potential clunker into a ninth, and following that up with a lunch-pail second.

When the dust cleared from a very challenging day on Narragansett Bay's East Passage, Southern Yacht Club remained the overall leader, with a nine-point advantage over second place, which is now occupied by San Diego. Royal Thames Yacht Club sits third. And that's the extent of the teams with a realistic shot at the championship, though Royal Cork Yacht Club and the host New York Yacht Club shouldn't be ruled out for a podium.

"It really comes down to technique and working together as a team," said San Diego tactician Jake LaDow, when asked about the team's speed advantage over the past two days. "That [includes] weight on and off the rail, loading the boat up, and really fine tuning the sail trim. That’s been what we’ve been getting better and better at. In these really tight races, you need these two-foot crosses every once in a while. The first couple of days, our speed wasn’t as good as it is at this point in the regatta, and we had a couple of unlucky breaks. Sometimes you need those small victories throughout the race to really punch through and allow your race to free up."

After a punishing day on Rhode Island Sound on Thursday, the Race Committee moved the fleet inside Narragansett Bay, north of Gould Island. The flatter water and more moderate breeze was a welcome change for many competitors, but what today's conditions lacked in physical challenge was more than compensated for on the mental side of the sport. The breeze was shifty and puffy, and the tide was a factor, and few teams were immune to a bad race. In fact, of the top seven teams to begin the day, Southern and San Diego were the only two to avoid at least one double-digit finish.

San Diego stuck with a similar playbook to yesterday, starting at the pin and using superior speed to jump into the lead. Southern, once again, had to battle, particularly in the day's first race.

"We had a pretty decent first beat and rounded the weather mark in about sixth and everyone in the lead pack bore off initially on starboard," said Rick Merriman, Southern's main trimmer and a two-time winner of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. "The boats behind all jibed and got a jump on everyone. We went to jibe back, and there was a starboard tacker that pushed us to the right, and by then we’d pretty much lost everyone. We tried to keep our attitude strong and keep moving. We know we’ve got decent speed, so we just hung in there on the second beat and the run, kept passing boats and got in the top 10 again."

A second in the second race salvaged a very solid day, which will send the Southern Yacht Club team (Bow 3) into the final two races with a solid, but far from unsurmountable advantage.

Behind Southern, it was tough sledding for many top teams. Eastern, New York, Royal Cork, and Royal Canadian all saw their dreams of a podium, if not a win, take a significant hit.

Of the 19 teams in the regatta, just five put together two single-digit finishes on Day 4. The San Francisco Yacht Club, which has shown flashes of speed in multiple races, had a fifth and a fourth. The other two teams were more surprising.

Royal Swedish Yacht Club (Bow 6, at right) recorded its best two results of the regatta, a sixth and a seventh, and moved from 14th to 11th.

"I think the main reason was the starts," said tactician Johanna Sommarlund. "We got off the line today finally. We’ve been trying to find a way for the timing for the acceleration. We finally got that right today and then we played the shifts on the upwind.

"We’ve been trying some different things, working on, OK, let’s turn a little bit earlier, don’t think about the bias, just get clear air. Today we finally found the recipe to get off the start."

Then there were the viking hats. The team broke them out for Thursday evening's Lobster Bake, and at least one crew member decided to wear it on the water today.

"Some people say it’s bad luck to wear hats during the race," she said. "But apparently it’s been really good for us. We’ll be quicker with the viking helmets [tomorrow]."

Howth Yacht Club improve

Howth Yacht Club also had its best two results on Friday. Tactician Laura Dillon also chalked it up to trying something new. In the case of the Irish team, it was more input from the regatta's youngest participant, 15-year-old Rocco Wright.

"Rocco was feeding a lot of input today, and it was really helpful to have those extra pair of eyes looking around," said Dillon. "We definitely found today that the waves were less and we had good enough boatspeed across the course, so it was much more about the shifts and the gusts. That definitely helped level the playing field.

"We’re really enjoying the event, and it’s showing as we’re getting better every day."

Howth currently sits 16th in the regatta, but Dillon and her teammates were smiling wide tonight in the tent after racing and eagerly looking ahead to more progress over the final two races.

"A steady gain is really good," she said. "If we’re ending on a positive trajectory, then we’ll be hopefully looking forward to, in the future, coming back and continuing on that upward trajectory. We’d all love a podium position, but a steady gain would keep us all very happy."

2021 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Day 4 Provisional Results

(Place, Club Name, Boat Number, Country, Race results; Regatta Total)
1. Southern Yacht Club, Boat 3, USA, 1, 10, 2, 4, 1, 3, 3, 4, 9, 2; 39
2. San Diego Yacht Club. Boat 17, USA, 12, 4, 5, 6, 12, 5, 1, 1, 1, 1; 48
3. Royal Thames Yacht Club, Boat 10, GBR, 2, 2, 1, 8, 8, 9, 9, 2, 10, 3; 54
4. Royal Cork Yacht Club, Boat 13, IRL, 3, 3, 11, 1, 6, 6, 4, 9, 2, 16; 61
5. New York Yacht Club, Boat 19, USA, 4, 1, 7, 3, 5, 12, 7, 11, 15, 10; 75
6. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Boat 5, CAN, 13, 9, 16, 9, 2, 4, 5, 5, 3, 14; 80
7. Eastern Yacht Club, Boat 16, USA, 12*, 6, 4, 5, 3, 2, 8, 16, 18, 8; 82
8. The San Francisco Yacht Club, Boat 2, USA, 17, 7, 9, 2, 11, 1, 14, 15, 5, 4; 85
9. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Boat 14, ITA, 7*, 12, 3, 16, 7, 8, 6, 14, 4, 12; 89
10. American Yacht Club, Boat 8, USA, 9*, 11, 8, 13*, 13, 16, 2, 6, 11, 6; 95
11. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Boat 6, SWE, 10, 8, 18, 14, 9, 13, 16, 10, 6, 7; 111
12. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, Boat 15, CAN, 7, 5, 6, 7, 19, 17, 19, 12, 19, 5; 116
13. Yacht Club Argentino, Boat 9, ARG, 14, 13, 17, 11, 15, 7, 10, 3, 13, 17; 120
14. Noroton Yacht Club, Boat 7, USA, 15, 14, 10, 10, 14, 10, 17, 8, 14, 15; 127
15. Nyländska Jaktklubben, Boat 12, FIN, 6*, 18, 13, 15, 10, 15, 12, 7, 17, 19; 132
16. Howth Yacht Club, Boat 4, IRL, 16, 16, 14, 13, 17, 11, 15, 19, 7, 9; 137
17. Itchenor Sailing Club, Boat 11, GBR, 19, 15, 15, 18, 4, 18, 13, 17, 8, 11; 138
18. Yacht Club Italiano, Boat 18, ITA, 10*, 17, 12, 17, 16, 14, 11, 13, 12, 18; 140
19. Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Boat 20, BER, 18, 19, 19, 19, 18, 19, 18, 18, 16, 13; 177
*Race score includes 1-point penalty for early extension of sprit

Anthony O'Leary's Royal Cork team scored a 4 and a 9, in day three racing of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup to continue in third place overall.

If it wasn't the lumpy seas, it was the capricious breeze. Wherever sailors competing in the 2021 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup turned on Thursday, there was something standing between them and the groove so essential for a solid finish in a competitive fleet: a wave, a shift, a patch of no wind, a trench of disturbed air, a picket fence of competitors on starboard tack. It was one of the most challenging days on the water in the history of this storied event.

But intense pressure creates diamonds and with its back to the proverbial wall, San Diego Yacht Club turned in a gem of a performance, winning both races and saving its hopes of a podium finish after a middling start, by its lofty standards, to the regatta. The runner up from 2019 now sits fourth.

"We had couple of tough ones the last couple of days, and we knew we needed to go out and bounce back and find it," said San Diego Yacht Club tactician Jake LaDow. "We were able to execute two pin-end starts, which really set us up to have very simple races, minimizing tacks and staying away from other boats.

Southern Yacht Club also sparkled today, transforming a near disaster in Race 8 into a fourth and extending its overall lead to 13 points. With four races remaining, this regatta is Southern's to lose. They have shown exceptional speed and, save for one decision today, superb tactics. The race for the podium remains wide open, with at least five teams in contention. And, while teams in the bottom half of the fleet can no longer dream of a top-three finish, there remains plenty of pride on the line in the minor placings. For example, just 8 points separates 15th from 11th.

"Definitely" said LaDow when asked if the SDYC team reclaimed a bit of its mojo today. "We had a really good synergy between Tyler [Sinks, skipper] and Drew [Freides, main trimmer] keeping the boat at a constant level of heel in the super challenging, puffy conditions, and that gave us a lot of confidence."

Southern's comeback was noteworthy in large part due to the impact a bad result would've had on the regatta. Had SYC finished where it rounded the first mark—in the teens—the race for the 2021 Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup would be wide open. But that race rescue wasn't the only Lazarus impression of the day. Royal Canadian Yacht Club was dead last, and by a margin, shortly after the start of Race 7, the day's first contest.

"We had a pretty shocker start, and ended up doing a 720 after the start," he said. "It’s really hard to come back. The good thing is when you’re that far back it’s pretty easy to sail a clear lane, and you can focus on boatspeed and sailing the numbers, which is what we did. We were able to sail our own race the entire race, including the downwinds. We made big big gains on the downwind legs by sailing by ourselves, and I think we had a pretty good mode going as well.

After an hour of tough sailing, the team crossed the finish line in fifth.

"It was a bit shocking even for us," Fraser said. "Terry [McLaughlin, RCYC skipper] did a great job, the whole team did a really good job just sticking with it, sailing fast, keeping to our mode, sailing to the numbers. When you’re doing that, good things happen, and we were lucky enough to get back to fifth."

The Royal Canadian Yacht Club has been a regular attendee at the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, missing just one of seven, and finishing first twice and second once. Fraser is part of the Club's second generation of Invitational Cup sailors, participating for the second time.

"The boats are amazing," he said. "It’s frustratingly close racing. Every inch matters, every tack matters, every shift matters. If you end up on the wrong side of a few things, you get deep and it’s really hard to get back. We’ve had an OK regatta so far, we need to keep pushing, basically no more mistakes at this point."

Royal Canadian Yacht Club currently sits seventh, 13 points out of the top five. But the team is trending in the right direction, with four straight results of fifth or better.

For San Diego Yacht Club, it's a similar situation, there's no margin for error if they have any hope of equaling its finish in 2019. However, this is no time to throw out a carefully crafted playbook that has proven effective in the past.

"Nothing changes," said LaDow. "We still have to trust the process, trust in ourselves and trust each person in their role to do the best we can. That said we're going to be looking for a similar day to today."

2021 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Day 3 Provisional Results

(Place, Club Name, Boat Number, Country, Race results; Regatta Total)
1. Southern Yacht Club, Boat 3, USA, 1, 10, 2, 4, 1, 3, 3, 4; 28
2. Royal Thames Yacht Club, Boat 10, GBR, 2, 2, 1, 8, 8, 9, 9, 2; 41
3. Royal Cork Yacht Club, Boat 13, IRL, 3, 3, 11, 1, 6, 6, 4, 9; 43
4. San Diego Yacht Club. Boat 17, USA, 12, 4, 5, 6, 12, 5, 1, 1; 46
5. New York Yacht Club, Boat 19, USA, 4, 1, 7, 3, 5, 12, 7, 11; 50
6. Eastern Yacht Club, Boat 16, USA, 12*, 6, 4, 5, 3, 2, 8, 16; 56
7. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Boat 5, CAN, 13, 9, 16, 9, 2, 4, 5, 5; 63
8. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Boat 14, ITA, 7*, 12, 3, 16, 7, 8, 6, 14; 73
9. The San Francisco Yacht Club, Boat 2, USA, 17, 7, 9, 2, 11, 1, 14, 15; 76
10. American Yacht Club, Boat 8, USA, 9*, 11, 8, 13*, 13, 16, 2, 6; 78
11. Yacht Club Argentino, Boat 9, ARG, 14, 13, 17, 11, 15, 7, 10, 3; 90
12. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, Boat 15, CAN, 7, 5, 6, 7, 19, 17, 19, 12; 92
13. Nylandska Jaktklubben, Boat 12, FIN, 6*, 18, 13, 15, 10, 15, 12, 7; 96
14. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Boat 6, SWE, 10, 8, 18, 14, 9, 13, 16, 10; 98
15. Noroton Yacht Club, Boat 7, USA, 15, 14, 10, 10, 14, 10, 17, 8; 98
16. Yacht Club Italiano, Boat 18, ITA, 10*, 17, 12, 17, 16, 14, 11, 13; 110
17. Itchenor Sailing Club, Boat 11, GBR, 19, 15, 15, 18, 4, 18, 13, 17; 119
18. Howth Yacht Club, Boat 4, IRL, 16, 16, 14, 13, 17, 11, 15, 19; 121
19. Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Boat 20, BER, 18, 19, 19, 19, 18, 19, 18, 18; 148

*Race score includes 1-point penalty for early extension of sprit

Royal Cork Yacht Club shares equal points with second overall at the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup after the second day of racing.

The impressive display so far by the Anthony O'Leary skippered entry keeps the Cork Harbour crew on course to defend its bronze medal performance of 2019.

The Crosshaven sailors are counting a scoreline of  3, 3, 11, 1, 6, 6 to tie on 30 points with Royal Thames in second and be nine points off the overall lead currently held by America's Southern Yacht Club.

Ireland's second entry into the event, a team from Howth Yacht Club, is lying 17th with a best score so far in the series of 11th taken in Wednesday afternoon's race six. 

Day two was just the sort of moment that the founders of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup envisioned more than a decade years ago when they created the event. Two identical boats crewed by amateur sailors blasting downwind in the late afternoon sun each with their eye on first place in the race. Eastern Yacht Club had had the lead around the top mark, but The San Francisco Yacht Club crew, always at home in some breeze, was chewing into the advantage and looking for any opening to take over the lead. It would come down to the final jibe before a long port-tack run to the finish.

“We both didn’t have great jibes,” says Sean Bennett, the skipper of the San Francisco crew. “But we had a little better jibe that they did and we were able to fill and get going. Both of us were still in the late-main jibe mode, that flipped them over harder than us so we were able to get just enough ahead on them to get over the top of them and get by.”

Of course, that wasn’t the end of the story, a drop in the windspeed or a slight shift to the left would've forced both boats to jibe again and allowed Eastern skipper Bill Lynn to repay the favor. But the breeze held and The San Francisco Yacht Club took its first win of the regatta, capping off a marked improvement over Day 1 and putting the team within range of the podium with six races remaining. Coming in third in that race was Southern Yacht Club, which had the best day on the water and vaulted into the lead with 21 points. Royal Thames Yacht Club and Royal Cork Yacht Club are tied for second, 9 points back.

The NYYC Cup Howth Yacht Club crew was 11th in race six Photo: Daniel Forster

The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 48 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 21 countries. After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2021 event will be the second sailed in the IC37, designed by County Wicklow's Mark Mills. 

The San Francisco Yacht Club was one of the teams that stepped in to fill the slots that opened when a handful of foreign teams were unable to travel due to COVID restrictions. Among the many challenges, was finding the time to practice together, ideally in an IC37. San Francisco's team is loaded with talent, but Bennett says they're still very much in learning mode in the IC37.

"We’re getting more comfortable with the boat," said Bennett. "It’s the first time we’ve raced it. Yesterday, in the bump, we struggled more trying to understand how to make the boat go fast.

"Today [was better] with the flatter water, a little more breeze on, which helps San Francisco people anyway. But we've generally been on a steeper learning curve in the light spots, and we’re getting better understanding how to make big adjustments when the wind drops off."

With a second, 11th and first today, the SFYC team is now seventh overall. Despite missing out on the win in the final race, Eastern Yacht Club had a very strong day and is tied for fourth, two points out of second.

But the unquestioned boat of the day was Southern Yacht Club, with a fourth, first and third.

Ireland has two entries in this year's New York Invitational Cup Photo: Daniel Forster

"Basically it was our teamwork," said Lovell, a four-time Olympian who won a silver medal in 2004. "Marcus [Eagan] did an incredible job with tactics. Rick [Merriman] was playing the main. Andrew [Eagan] was trimming the jib, and the team was really clicking today. I think mainly we just didn’t make any big mistakes. We got off the line with clean starts, didn’t miss any shifts and had great boathandling."

This is Lovell's third Invitational Cup. He called tactics when Southern won in 2017 and finished fifth in 2019. He's especially pleased to be on the helm this time around.

"It’s been great, really enjoying it," he said. "It’s actually a little less stressful to be driving than doing tactics in a way.

"I tried to look around a few times [today], and I got told I’m the driver, I just need to drive fast. That’s what I’ve been concentrating on, just driving the boat as fast as I can drive it. Everyone’s got their job and everyone does their job well, then the team does well."

Yacht Club Argentino wasn't able to move up in the overall standings, but the event's lone Southern Hemisphere team still found reason for optimism as it closed the first half of the regatta with a seventh.

"The last race today was the windiest one, we could sail as fast as we wanted to," said skipper Emilio Miguel. "Honestly, compared to the rest of the fleet, we weren’t slow. Even yesterday, I think we were fast. We made a lot of unforced errors. Yesterday, for example, in the second race, we could've been first or second to the first mark. We ended up third, and then we were penalized and it was a disaster, it all went down from there."

In today's first race, they passed seven boats on the final run, and then put it together for a top-10 in the third race.

"The last race was our best result yet, a seventh," he said, "so we’re pumped for tomorrow."

2021 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, Day 2 Provisional Results

(Place, Club Name, Boat Number, Country, Race results; Regatta Total)

1. Southern Yacht Club, Boat 3, USA, 1, 10, 2, 4, 1, 3; 21
2. Royal Thames Yacht Club, Boat 10, GBR, 2, 2, 1, 8, 8, 9; 30
3. Royal Cork Yacht Club, Boat 13, IRL, 3, 3, 11, 1, 6, 6; 30
4. New York Yacht Club, Boat 19, USA, 4, 1, 7, 3, 5, 12; 32
5. Eastern Yacht Club, Boat 16, USA, 12*, 6, 4, 5, 3, 2; 32
6. San Diego Yacht Club. Boat 17, USA, 12, 4, 5, 6, 12, 5; 44
7. The San Francisco Yacht Club, Boat 2, USA, 17, 7, 9, 2, 11, 1; 47
8. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Boat 5, CAN, 13, 9, 16, 9, 2, 4; 53
9. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, Boat 14, ITA, 7*, 12, 3, 16, 7, 8; 53
10. Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, Boat 15, CAN, 7, 5, 6, 7, 19, 17; 61
11. American Yacht Club, Boat 8, USA, 9*, 11, 8, 13*, 13, 16; 70
12. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Boat 6, SWE, 10, 8, 18, 14, 9, 13; 72
13. Noroton Yacht Club, Boat 7, USA, 15, 14, 10, 10, 14, 10; 73
14. Nylandska Jaktklubben, Boat 12, FIN, 6*, 18, 13, 15, 10, 12; 74
15. Yacht Club Argentino, Boat 9, ARG, 14, 13, 17, 11, 15, 7; 77
16. Yacht Club Italiano, Boat 18, ITA, 10*, 17, 12, 17, 16, 14; 86
17. Howth Yacht Club, Boat 4, IRL, 16, 16, 14, 13, 17, 11; 87
18. Itchenor Sailing Club, Boat 11, GBR, 19, 15, 15, 18, 4, 18; 89
19. Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Boat 20, BER, 18, 19, 19, 19, 18, 19; 112

*Race score includes 1-point penalty for early extension of sprit

For the first time since the inaugural event in 2009, the fleet for the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will hit the starting line without a defending champion, shaking up the form guide as teams and sailing fans look toward the start of sailing’s premiere Corinthian big-boat competition starts on Tuesday, September 14.

In another first for Ireland, as Afloat previously reported, Howth Yacht Club makes its debut alongside Royal Cork Yacht Club. It brings the number of Irish teams back up to two for the first time since Dun Laoghaire's Royal St. George participation in 2009.

Re-entry concerns and strict quarantine protocols related to the COVID pandemic have forced clubs from Asia, the antipodes, and Europe to decline their spots in the regatta. The absence of the defending champions from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, along with a trio of clubs that sailed in each previous edition, has created opportunities for new international entrants and a handful of U.S. yacht clubs loaded with top amateur talent.

“While the COVID pandemic has made hosting an international sporting competition more challenging than ever, it pales in comparison to the hard work being done every day by frontline medical professionals around the globe. They have our enduring gratitude,” said Robbie Benjamin, the event chair. “We started this year with a superb entry list of 20 yacht clubs from around the world. It’s changed frequently over the past six months, but we’re tremendously proud that 19 teams that have made the commitment to travel to Newport to compete. Every former champion will compete in 2021, except for Royal Sydney. The seven U.S. clubs is a high for this regatta, but historically, the domestic teams have fared well, and we anticipate the level of competition being equal to, if not higher than, any previous edition.”

The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 45 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 21 countries. After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2021 event will be the second sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills. The strict one-design nature of this purpose-built class combined with the fact that each boat is owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, will ensure a level playing field not seen in any other amateur big-boat sailing competition. The regatta will run from Saturday, September 11, through Saturday, September 18, with racing starting on Tuesday, September 14.

A live broadcast on Facebook and YouTube, starting on Wednesday, September 15, will allow fellow club members, friends, family and sailing fans from around the world follow the action as it happens. Nineteen teams from nine countries will compete in 2021. 

The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup has always been much more than a sailing competition. The onshore social schedule at Harbour Court and the resulting interclub camaraderie are integral components of the experience, which competitors say is unlike any other regatta in the world. But with the first gun less than a week away, the current focus is on who might win.

With the defending champions sitting out, 2019 runner-up San Diego Yacht Club is an obvious choice. Led once again by former college all-America selections Tyler Sinks (white hat) and Jake LaDow (far left), the team has the experience and talent to win, and the confidence of knowing they were just one break away from winning this regatta in 2019.

Four clubs that have won this regatta before—New York Yacht Club, Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club and Southern Yacht Club—must also be considered among the favourites.

The Royal Canadian Yacht Club is the only two-time champion of the Invitational Cup. The team's preparation for 2021 included practising for and competing in the 25th edition of the Canada's Cup, the premier match-racing trophy in the Great Lakes. A 6-0 win over Youngstown (N.Y.) Yacht Club seems a strong indication the RCYC team will come to Newport with a fair bit of momentum. But skipper Terry McLaughlin wasn't willing to shoulder the yolk of pre-race favourite.

"I expect [the competition] to be as tough as ever," said McLaughlin, who won a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics. "I don’t want to say we're super prepared. We are reasonably prepared, but we haven't been fleet racing and we haven't been sailing in Newport."

McLaughlin's team is a combination of the old guard, including two teammates from Canada I campaign for the 1983 America's Cup, and the next generation of RCYC sailors, such as 28-year-old tactician Lance Fraser and Mariah Millen, who will be sailing with her dad.

"Our team is identical to the 2019 Invitational Cup team, with the exception of the mainsheet trimmer," said McLaughlin (white hat), who steered Royal Canadian to fourth in 2019. "Certainly for everybody else, they’re far more used to the IC37 this year. In 2019, we had some people in key positions on the boat who hadn't really sailed big boats much who learned quite quickly."

First-time competitors from Canada’s Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, Howth Yacht Club in Ireland, and Noroton Yacht Club and American Yacht Club in the United States add an element of mystery to the pre-race discussion. Each team brings a collection of talented amateur sailors to the event. But how well they can assimilate to the IC37 and the unique format of the regatta won’t be known at least until the first race kicks off on Tuesday, September 14.

The following yacht clubs will compete for the 2021 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup: American Yacht Club (Rye, N.Y.), Eastern Yacht Club (Marblehead, Mass.), Howth Yacht Club (IRL), Itchenor Sailing Club (GBR), New York Yacht Club, Noroton Yacht Club (Darien, Conn.), Nyländska Jaktklubben (FIN), Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL), Royal Swedish Yacht Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club (GBR), Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (CAN), San Diego (Calif.) Yacht Club, The San Francisco Yacht Club (Belvedere, Calif.), Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans), Yacht Club Argentino, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (ITA), Yacht Club Italiano.

Anthony O'Leary's Royal Cork Yacht Club team were sixth in the first race of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup yesterday at Newport, Rhode Island. O'Leary leads a sole Irish crew that is competing for the first time in Irish designed IC37 yachts at the prestigious Cup.

How to balance risk against reward is always a key decision early in a regatta. That applies double for the invitational Cup where the unique nature of the event means there's no reliable pre-regatta form guide. In a few days, we'll know which teams came prepared to win and which are a little off the pace. But for the start of Race 1 earlier today, there were 20 contenders of unknown calibre attacking the starting line.

A good start was important. But the risk of a bad start outweighed getting too aggressive. Three teams pushed too hard, starting a few seconds before the gun and then having to turn around and re-start, a painful process in the light winds. The Japan Sailing Federation (JSF) picked an uncrowded part of the line, timed it perfectly and leapt into the race with good pace and a large lane. That often translates into a great race, and that's exactly what happened. The JSF led at every mark and took a 1-minute win over San Diego Yacht Club, with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda and Yacht Club Italiano rounding out the top four.

Royal Cork's Anthony O'Leary (second from right) in New York at the opening ceremony of the Invitational Cup Photo: Daniel Forster

The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 43 of the world’s most prestigious yacht clubs from 21 countries. After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2019 event will be sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills and built by Westerly Marine in Santa Ana, Calif., and FIBRE Mechanics in the United Kingdom. The strict one-design nature of this new, purpose-built class combined with the fact that all 20 boats are owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, will ensure a level playing field never before seen in amateur big-boat sailing. The regatta will run through September 14. A broadcast on Facebook Live and YouTube will allow fellow club members, friends, family and sailing fans from around the world follow the action as it happens. Twenty teams from 14 countries and five continents will compete in the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.

The first day of racing got off to a slow start as the breeze refused to fill until nearly 3 pm and even then it was just into the range of sailable conditions. In those conditions, getting off the starting line cleanly, and with some space in which to manoeuvre, are paramount. Eiichiro Hamazaki, the skipper for the Japan Sailing Federation, decided to avoid the ends of the starting line and find some space in the middle.

"We didn't want to take risks in the beginning of the series," he said, "so I tried not to start based on the conditions, we tried to start in the middle. We knew the wind would shift to the right from yesterday's experience. We tried to tack in the beginning in front of the boat that started from the pin end. We got a good right shift and then came [out] ahead."

The JSF team led around each of the three marks today, but with the wind dipping as low as 4 knots at times, there was no such thing as a comfortable lead.

"The biggest point that I was worried was in the second windward leg," Hamazaki said. "We covered the second- and third-place boats, which was Italy and Canada, on the left side, but some other boats behind went to the right side and came out ahead and gained bit. Finally we covered San Diego and we maintained top position [on the second downwind leg]."

After rounding the leeward mark in seventh place, San Diego pushed hard to the right side on the second beat and vaulted into second, with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, from Sardinia, finishing third.

Illaria Paternoster, the event's youngest skipper, finished fourth at the helm of the Yacht Club Italiano entry.

"It was really good for us because we've never sailed this boat before and we are a new team," she said. "We have a lot of speed during the race. Fortunately, we had a good position and were never covered by other boats, so we sailed in clear air. We had the possibility to choose where we wanted to go and sail our own race. It was shifty, so it was important to have clear space near to us to decide where to go."

Today is expected to be a significant departure from today's light air, with the forecast calling for strong southwesterly breezes all day.

Racing is scheduled to start at 11 am each day.

Day 1 Results

1. Japan Sailing Federation, 1; 2. San Diego Yacht Club, 2; 3. Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, 3; 4. Yacht Club Italiano, 4; 5. Royal Thames Yacht Club, 5; 6. Royal Cork Yacht Club, 6; 7. Royal Canadian Yacht Club, 7; 8. New York Yacht Club, 8; 9. Royal Swedish Yacht Club, 9; 10. Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, 10; 11. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, 11; 12. Royal New Zealand Yacht Club, 12; 13. Yacht Club Argentino, 13; 14. Southern Yacht Club, 14; 15. Real Club Náutico de Barcelona, 15; 16. Itchenor Sailing Club, 16; 17. Royal Yacht Squadron, 17; 18. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, 18; 19. Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, 19; 20. Yacht Club de France, 20.

Although the New York Yacht Club was founded as “recently” as 1844, it’s regarded in the senior yacht club in the USA, as is the Royal Cork in Ireland - and the world too, come to that, with the RCYC’s unrivalled foundation in 1720 writes W M Nixon. But in England things aren’t so simple (as we’ve been learning only too well during the past three years), for although the Royal Thames in London dates back to 1775, it’s regarded as the senior club, while the ever-so-grand Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes – not founded until 1815 – is regarded as the premier club.

Be that as it may, when the New York YC set up its International Invitational Series for amateur crews six years ago, it cast around to make it truly international and simply went straight to the senior clubs in each country for the crew selection, though the lineup would suggest there’s some flexibility in the final assembly.

In recent years, the NYYC Invitational Series used Club Swan 42s
The outcome is that today in Newport Rhode Island there are 20 crews from almost every continent taking to the water off the NYYC’s rather splendid out-station of Harbour Court. And after some years of racing in the relative comfort of Club Swan 42s, for the first time they’re going to be sailing the new Melges IC37, pretty much an out-and-out raceboat designed by Mark Mills of Wicklow, and now well into a building programme with Westerly Marine in California, and FIBRE Mechanics in the UK.

Anothny O’Leary was already one of Ireland’s top sailors when he became one of the youngest-ever Admirals of the Royal Cork in 2000, but since then he has continued to notch many successes afloat, including captaining two International Commodore’s Cup team wins

The Royal Cork’s crew will be headed by Anthony O’Leary, who became the one of the youngest-ever RCYC Admirals back in 2000, but has put in much prodigious sailing achievement ever since. Although he’s best known these days for 1720 campaigning – both in the straight class and with the “cruiserfied” version Antix Bheag for IRC racing – he has cut the mustard internationally with major success in larger craft.

So who knows, but maybe the next five days of top end international Corinthian sport off Newport might be one of the first steps towards getting an IC37 class off the ground at Crosshaven, although we’d expect advocates of that notion to have been busy already.

The O’Leary-led RCYC crew in mid-gybe during 2018’s NYYC series with a satisfactory number of renowned international clubs tucked in astern

Anthony O'Leary's bid to win the New York Invitational Cup for Royal Cork Yacht Club will have to wait for another edition after Britain's Royal Thames YC lifted the Cup in Newport, Rhode Island yesterday. The sole Irish entry finished seventh. 

The morning air reverberated with the sound of cannon fire and boat horns as the international fleet, battle flags flying, paraded around Newport harbor and past the main dock of the New York Yacht Club where supporters were gathered to cheer them on for the final day of the 2015 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.

This traditional sendoff for the competitors is just one of the many details that make this event so special. Over four editions, 21 countries have gone head-to-head on the water and then made lasting friendships during social gatherings at Harbour Court, New York Yacht Club’s iconic waterfront clubhouse in Newport. As with the heritage of the sport, woven into the very fabric of this event is the historic partnership of Rolex and New York Yacht Club, which was forged in the 1950s. Through this enduring association, one of yachting’s greatest traditions was established with a winning sailor being presented a specially-engraved Rolex timepiece – the ultimate symbol for achieving excellence.
Out on the water, the fleet was sent up Narragansett Bay for the second consecutive day, where racing was held in an eight knot south-southwesterly breeze. The team representing the oldest yacht club in the world, London’s Royal Thames Yacht Club, was in the most perilous position of the 17 competing teams. Having been in the lead, or tied for the lead, through the entire series, it was their regatta to win – or lose. In the first race of the day, an eighth-place finish put their nine-point cushion under pressure. With their closest competitor in the standings – Marblehead’s Eastern Yacht Club – finishing fourth, the gap shrunk to five points.

“We didn’t make it very easy for ourselves throughout the day,” said John Greenland, skipper of the Royal Thames Yacht Club team. “At one point in the first race we almost sailed ourselves into a really comfortable position. Instead it turned inside out. But that’s how the fleet has been all week. You just have to take each race as it comes.”

Greenland said the team had a conversation to make sure they were in the right mindset going into the last race. They crossed the line 10th, with Eastern Yacht Club following in 12th; the Brits securing the win 71 points to Eastern’s 78. “The overall level has absolutely improved,” said an elated Greenland. “The competition is demonstrated in the results. There are some seriously good sailors in these boats who are struggling to get into the top five. It’s a great conclusion to years of preparation… everyone is over the moon.”

The New York Yacht Club’s team, led by skipper Paul Zabetakis, concluded the series second overall after finishes of 3-6 were added to their score line for 77 points. “We were third on the first day then we dropped to ninth; we had a couple of bad races,” said Zabetakis. “We kept telling ourselves we could do it. Yesterday we went from ninth to fourth and then today it was a matter of sailing our own race. We felt like we did a great job.”

The only team new to the 2015 Rolex New York Invitational Cup, Australia’s Middle Harbour Yacht Club, not only met their goal for the regatta, they exceeded it. Hoping to finish in the top-five, they were fourth overall with 81 points after finishes of 7-2 on the final day of racing. Just one point behind was the Japan Sailing Federation, after placing 2-5 today.

Guido Belgiorno-Nettis, skipper of the Middle Harbour Yacht Club team was very happy with team’s final position in their first appearance at the event. “We’re a bit hard on ourselves,” said the 2011 Rolex Farr 40 World Champion. “Putting the spinnaker in the water on the penultimate day of the competition was not a very smart tactical move. It set a bad precedent; we were about fourth [at that point] and then we finished 11th in that race. If you’re in fourth place around the top mark you have half a chance of defending that position and not getting caught up with the fleet; but once you drop back its very hard. We came second today and once we managed to get out of the pack we just kept extending.”

Zabetakis, who has been sailing since his mid-20s, but has raced the Mumm 36 and Farr 40 Worlds, and Key West Race Week, in addition to campaigning his Swan 42, summed up the uniqueness of the event: “This regatta has no equal. The other races [in which I’ve sailed], there were always pros involved. I think it’s a phenomenal tribute to New York Yacht Club who put this together, and these amateur teams that come together to do this. It’s the most competitive racing I’ve ever done.”