Sail for Gold Regatta report—Sailing News from the U.S. and Beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 8 Jun 2012 The Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta, which is currently taking place in Weymouth, England, continues to drive this week’s sailing headlines. Top One Design sailors from around the world are crowding these historic waters, both to speed tune against their rivals and to get a final taste of the racing conditions off of Weymouth, prior to this summer’s Olympic Games, which are also being sailed here. After four days of racing—the most recent of which had to be abbreviated due to strong winds—US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider is enjoying some great results.

So far, stand-out performances go to Anna Tunnicliffe’s Team MacLaren in the Women’s Match Racing event, Amanda Clark and Sarah Lihan in the Women’s 470 class, and Zach Railey in the Finn class. Unfortunately, Railey’s day wasn’t without incident.

'The whole day has been tough,' reported Railey. 'We waited around for the weather system. We finally got onto the water, and I was doing pretty well. I made up a bunch of boats on the downwind and was waiting to go around the leeward mark and it was very tight. There was a boat that came in and didn’t have room. Unfortunately, he tried to take room on a couple of us. There was a pretty big collision; it threw me out of the boat. The boat got broken in the process. It’s obviously very difficult when you’re in the race. Unfortunately it’s part of racing. I know the person did a penalty turn so he knew he was in the wrong. I was in third going into today and it all depends on the results and what happens tonight.'

Friday, the last day of racing the in Paralympic classes was blown out, and Saturday is the medal race day for the Olympic classes. Get the full reports, including image galleries, inside this issue, and stay current with the website as the racing gets even more serious.

In offshore circles, the doublehanded, around-the-world Global Ocean Race has concluded, with Conrad Colman and Scott Cavanough aboard Cessna Citation taking top honors, followed by Marco Nannini and Sergio Frattaruolo aboard Financial Crisis and Nick Leggatt and Phillippa Hutton-Squire aboard Phesheya-Racing, the later of whom are still finishing the final leg. 'We were actually quite lucky as the wind started to drop as we came closer to Les Sables,' says Nannini of his recent finish. 'A front with about 45 knots of wind came through this morning and it was quite hairy to finish like that! I seem to attract heavy winds!'

Also offshore-related, the 168 boats that are registered to race in this year’s storied Newport-Bermuda race are amidst their final crunch-time preparations as this classic bluewater event starts on Friday, June 15 off of Newport, Rhode Island. Count on plenty of racecourse media once the starting guns begin sounding, and, if you’re amongst the lucky 2,000 sailors who are racing this year, enjoy!

And in inshore big-boat circles, be sure to check out the report from the New York Yacht Club’s 158th annual regatta, which is slated to take place this weekend in Newport, Rhode Island. Currently, 133 boats have entered, making this the best-attended of the club’s annual regattas to date. Get the full multi-media report, inside, and stay tuned for racing reports, as the action unfurls.

Also, be sure to read the latest reports from the Extreme Sailing Series Act 3, the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championships, and check out the latest news from America’s Cup World Series participant, Team Korea. And for any Stand Up Paddleboarders out there, check out Bill Whiddon and Thaddeus Foote’s plan to SUP their way across the Gulf Stream. If successful, this will mark the first time an SUP has made this ambitious crossing. Stay tuned!

May the four winds blow you safely home,