After five days of close match racing, America II (US 42), owned by the New York Harbour Sailing Foundation, pulled out a win in the last race on Saturday the 13th of July to take the prize in their class at the 12 Metre World Championships held in Newport, Rhode Island.
In the winning crew were Ryan Fitzgerald (Wicklow Sailing Club), Herbie Fowler Hudson (Royal St. George Yacht Club), Caoilainn O’Regan, (Fastnet Marine Sailing Centre), Dan O’Neill (Royal Irish Yacht Club) and Cian O’Carroll (Howth Yacht Club).
The International 12 Metre Class 2019 World Championship was held in Newport, Rhode Island (USA) from July 8- 13 and was hosted by the Ida Lewis Yacht Club and the 12 Metre Yacht Club. It was the largest-ever gathering of 12 Metre yachts in the United States, featuring 21 boats from seven countries.
The 12 Metre Crew that included five Irish sailors
The series consisted of nine races on a short (1.6 mile) windward-leeward course. The overall fleet was divided into five classes and included seven America’s Cup defenders and challengers. Racing was on Rhode Island Sound, the site of nine America’s Cup competitions from 1958-1983.
The winner in the Spirit Class, the historic yacht America II, US 42 was originally commissioned by the New York Yacht Club for the 1987 edition of the America’s Cup and was sailed by John Koilus in the 1986 12 Metre Worlds and the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup in Perth, Western Australia. She eventually lost out to Denis Connors in Stars and Stripes, who won the Cup for the San Diego Yacht Club.
The current owner of America II, The New York Harbor Sailing Foundation, is a non-profit organization dedicated to foster and promote amateur sailing of national and international importance in New York Harbor and to protect and preserve important pieces of American yachting history.
