Atlantic Cup, AC and GP news—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 29 May 2013 The Atlantic Cup is quickly establishing itself as one of the most important shorthanded races on the East Coast. This year, eight Class 40s participated in this three-stage race, which started in Charleston, South Carolina, and took the fleet to New York City, before punching north again, this time for Newport, Rhode Island, where the fleet enjoyed some hard-fought inshore racing.

The top prize for this year’s race went to Dave Rearick and Matt Scharl aboard 'Bodacious Dream'. The fast pair won both offshore legs and also sailed well around the cans, followed by 'Lecoq Cuisine' and 'Icarus'.

'We are ecstatic,' said Rearick. 'We really wanted to win the racing and do well in the inshore series…[the last day] was a bit of a challenge with the high winds, but we managed to hang on. Obviously 'Lecoq Cuisine' was our closest competitor and we really wanted to best them, which we did today, so that was terrific.'

Meanwhile, in AC news, it seems as though the gloves are starting to slowly come off in regards to the unofficial '2013 America’s Cup Regatta Director Recommendations' that Iain Murray, Regatta Director for the 34th America's Cup, put forth last week, ahead of the official report that the Golden Gate Yacht Club's America’s Cup Review Committee is preparing. While all sailors and teams obviously want a safe AC34, some teams practiced, prepared and engineered their boat(s) for the original 33-knot wind limit, not the new 23-knot limit. This lowered wind range could put stronger, heavier-built boats at a disadvantage.

'It is daunting to arrive at the venue after years of planning to find the 'goalposts moving' so late in the campaign, long after design decisions have been made based on the anticipated windy conditions in San Francisco,' wrote Russell Green, Emirates Team New Zealand’s rules advisor, in a blog post this week.

ETNZ, it should be noted, consistently sailed both of their AC72s in strong winds on New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf, sans incident or capsize, all winter, proving that it’s physically possible to sail an AC72 in some serious conditions. Get the full AC scoop, including a great retrospective look at the 1970 Cup, inside this issue, and stay tuned to the website for more Cup news, as it breaks.

And in Grand Prix fleet-racing circles, Quantum Racing won the prestigious Trofeo Conde de Godo, which just wrapped up in Barcelona, Spain. 'I look at a couple of races that we had pretty good comebacks from the top marks and those are the races that are the deciding factors,' said Terry Hutchinson, Quantum’s tactician, about their battle with rival ‘Azzurra’. 'The races when you lead at the top mark you need to win. ‘Azzzurra’ fortunately could not get back through the fleet this time.' More, inside.

Also inside, get the full scoop on the College Sailing Team Race National Championships, the IFDS Blind Sailing Worlds and the newly established course record for the Virginia Cruising Cup.

May the four winds blow you safely home,