NYYC Grandmasters Team Race - Pushed to limit, Noroton defends title

by NYYC on 1 Sep 2015 NYYC Grandmasters Team Race - The competition at the grandmasters' level continues to improve. But for the fifth time in the six-year history of the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race Regatta—the 2011 event was canceled due to Hurricane Irene—Noroton Yacht Club managed to stay one step ahead. Or, considering that the regatta was decided on a tiebreaker, maybe the team from Darien, Conn., is just a half-step ahead.

'The competition has gone up and up and up,' said Noroton team captain Peter Wilson. 'This year we had four teams compete in a final round robin, with only six races to be sailed, and each was in contention to win the regatta.'

Over the course of a day and a half of racing, the eight teams in the regatta sailed a double round robin, with each team racing every other team twice. After those two round robins were completed, the top four teams—Noroton YC, host New York YC, Southern YC and Newport Harbor YC—competed in a single Gold Fleet Round Robin. Though all the points from the round robins carried forward, the four teams were separated by a just a single win. Newport Harbor started the Gold Round Robin with nine wins while the other three teams had ten apiece.

Both New York and Noroton had two wins and a loss in the Gold Round Robin, while Southern and Newport Harbor each went one - two. That left New York and Noroton tied on 12 wins each. But as the Noroton team had won two of the three matches between the two clubs, it won the regatta.

Wilson recalled that in 2010, the first year of the Grandmasters regatta—where skippers must be at least 55 years old and each crew member at least 45—the final result was quite similar with Noroton edging the host team in a tiebreaker. Last year, in the light air the team prefers, Noroton was unbeatable, winning all 14 races it sailed and finishing four points clear of second place. This year, with a little more breeze, it again came down to the final race few races, and again Noroton had enough to come out on top.

The Noroton YC team: Peter Wilson (skipper/captain), Carolyn Wilson, Britt Hall, Jim Linville, Steve Shepstone (skipper), Melissa Shepstone, Tom Kinney, Bob Monro, Lee Morrison (skipper), Karl Ziegler, Susan Morrison and Warren Costikyan

New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race

Final Results

1. Noroton YC (Darien, Conn.) 12 wins*
2. New York (N.Y.) YC 12 wins
3. Southern YC (New Orleans) 11 Wins
4. Newport Harbor YC (Newport Beach, Calif.) 10 wins
5. Texas Corinthian YC (Kemah, Texas) 10 wins
6. St. Francis YC (San Francisco) 5 wins
6. Hampton (Va.) YC 3 wins
8. Annapolis (Md.) YC 2 wins

*Wins the regatta via tiebreaker based on head-to-head competition.