Bayview Yacht Club leads New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup

by Bruce Babiarz on 10 Sep 2010 As of Thursday, Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit was in first-place against 23 other premier yacht clubs invited to participate in the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup qualifying series and advances to the championship series, it was announced Thursday.

With a score of 33 points for first place 'Team Bayview Pride' is among 12 teams that will advance to the championship series with the remaining 12 teams sailing in a consolation round after today’s races.

For the first two days of racing the 24 teams were divided into Red and Blue Fleets. After 12 races for the Blue Fleet, Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit is first overall, with Bora Gulari, the 2009 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in America, as skipper. Also sailing for Bayview are Kent Colpaert, John Van Tol and Sara Somes. The team posted the best record of the two days with 33 points. Bayview led after the first day with 21 points in eight races. Second going into today’s races was Sean Bennett’s San Francisco Yacht Club team and Peter Duncan’s American Yacht Club team from Rye, New York.

'Team Bayview Pride has lived up to its name,' said Ted Everingham, Chairman of the Team Bayview Regatta team. 'We came to Newport intent on winning and that’s what we have done each of these racing days. This is really one of the most exciting things I’ve been involved with in many years at Bayview. Everingham added that the hand-picked skipper Gulari and BYC crew has been outstanding in boat handling, tactics and achieving superior boat speed over some of the best sailors in the nation.

Team Bayview was only one of two 'fresh water' yacht club’s invited to the prestigious regatta sailed in historic Newport, Rhode Island harbor. The Little Traverse Bay Yacht Club of Harbor Springs, Michigan came in second to last place and did not make the cut for the championship series. The advancing 12 teams will race in 22-foot Sonar boats Friday and Saturday.

The prize for the top-three U.S. amateur teams is an invitation to the NYYC Invitational Cup presented by Rolex in September 2011, where they will meet the top six teams from 2009: New York, Royal Canadian, Japan Sailing Federation, Nyländska Jaktklubben of Finland; Royal Cork of Ireland and Royal Bermuda, plus at least 10 other international teams.

It was windy for the first two races, about 16-18 knots from the southwest – stuck at that pace since Saturday’s passing of Hurricane Earl. The winds moderated later in the day. NYYC Race Committee Chair John Myles set the stage at the Skippers’ Meeting on Tuesday. 'We’re here to sail; get in as many races as we can.' A man of his word is Mr. Myles.

The Red Fleet sailed the NYYC’s Sonars for the first four races, before switching to Sail Newport’s J/22s for the last four. The Blue Fleet started in J/22s and finished in Sonars.

For the Red Fleet, Peter McChesney’s Annapolis Yacht Club is first. Larchmont, of New York, skippered by Danny Pletsch, is second and Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead, Mass., led by Bill Lynn, is third.

The top six teams from the Red and Blue fleets will be determined after tomorrow’s racing; these 12 teams will compete on Friday and Saturday in Sonars to determine the three winners. The bottom six boats from either fleet will sail those days in a consolation round in J/22s.

The yacht clubs competing are American in Rye, N.Y.; Annapolis; Bayview in Detroit; Boston in Marblehead, Mass.; Carolina in Charleston, S.C.; Eastern in Marblehead, Mass.; Fishing Bay in Deltaville, Va.; Fort Worth Boat Club in Texas; Ida Lewis in Newport, R.I.; Indian Harbor in Greenwich, Conn.; Larchmont in New York; Little Traverse in Harbor Springs, Mich.; Long Beach in California; Newport Harbor in Newport Beach, Calif.; Pequot in Southport, Conn.; Rochester in New York; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Seawanhaka Corinthian in Oyster Bay, N.Y.; Southern in New Orleans; St. Francis in San Francisco; St. Petersburg in Florida and Stamford in Connecticut.

http://nyyc.org/2010USICQualifying/