Team Racing Championships at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court

by New York Yacht Club on 4 Aug 2016 August is team-racing season at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, in Newport, R.I. Over the course of four weekends, the Club will host a trio of prestigious team racing regattas featuring three-boat teams from around the United States and abroad.

The Morgan Cup Team Race, the Hinman Masters Team Race and the NYYC Grandmasters Team Race are each regarded throughout the team racing community as among the top competitions for adult team racers. The competitors annually include former Olympians, world champions, college sailors of the year and numerous collegiate All-America selections.

The racing will utilize gorgeous Narragansett Bay and the Club's fleet of 21 identical Sonar sailboats (designed by NYYC member Bruce Kirby), which will each be crewed by three or four sailors.

“These three events at Harbour Court always bring out the best team racers in the country, and the New York Yacht Club is very proud of the tradition we have built and continue to build in keelboat team racing,' says Peter Benedetto, co-chair of the NYYC Team Racing Committee. 'Of course, we’re rooting for team NYYC, but it’s really great to see the effort being put in by clubs across the country, in all age categories, in developing and training for this regatta and others held during the course of the year at other yacht clubs.”

Team Racing is an exciting and spectator-friendly form of sailing. The matches are sailed in a three-on-three format. The races are short, the action is intense and the final outcome is often decided just boat lengths from the finish line. Unlike in collegiate or scholastic matches, spinnakers are utilized for the Morgan Cup and Hinman Masters regattas, which places a premium on sail handling and technique.

Masters-level team racing is a recent addition to sailing and the Hinman Masters and Grandmasters Regattas were two of the first events of their type in the country. Both events have had great success. Because of overwhelming requests for entry, the Grandmasters event has been expanded to 10 teams and three days.

When
• Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Morgan Cup, August 5 to 7.
• Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy, August 19 to 21
• The Grandmasters Team Race Regatta, August 26 to 28

Competing Teams
(M = Morgan Cup, H = Hinman Trophy, G = Grandmasters)
Annapolis (Md.) Yacht Club (G)
Royal Thames (United Kingdom) Yacht Club (M)
Bristol Outlaws (M)
ICSA All Americans (M)
New York Yacht Club (M, H, G)
Southern (New Orleans, Louisiana) Yacht Club (M, H, G)
Eastern (Marblehead, Mass.) Yacht Club (M, H)
Eastport (Annapolis, Md.) Yacht Club (H)
Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.) Yacht Club (M, G)
Seawanhaka (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) Corinthian Yacht Club (M, H, G)
San Diego (Calif.) Yacht Club (M)
Corinthian (Marblehead, Mass.) Yacht Club (M)
Texas Corinthian (Kemah, Texas) Yacht Club (H, G)
St. Francis (San Francisco) (H, G)
Indian Harbor (Greenwich, Conn.) Yacht Club (H)
Riverside (Conn.) Yacht Club (H)
Noroton (Darien, Conn.) Yacht Club (H, G)
Storm Trysail (Larchmont, N.Y.) Club (G)