Ryan Seago wins Detroit Cup at Bayview Yacht Club
by Dobbs Davis 28 Aug 2018 08:28 EST
23-26 August 2018
Detroit Cup 2018 © Martin Chumiecki / Bayview YC
With impressive display of match race sailing over four days in the double Round Robin (14-4), Petit-Finals (3-0) and Finals (2-0), and in wind conditions ranging from drifting to scary, local-based Ryan Seago and his crew of Chris Cyr and Matt Graham have won the 11th edition of the Detroit Cup. Their win in this Grade 2 international event was among a field of ten teams from the USA, Australia and New Zealand and is the first victory of a team representing the host of the event, Bayview Yacht Club.
And while a veteran of four past Detroit Cups and the qualifying events leading to them, which he credits for his team's prowess in the Ultimate 20s used in this event, this is the first time Seago has captured the main prize.
"We started stronger than many of the teams in knowing the boats," said Seago, "but we were weak in our pre-starts. Every day the others got better in their boat handling, and fortunately we also got better in our pre-starts, so it all came together in the end."
Seago's decisive victories in the first-to-two point Final over rival Will Boulden from Australia were consistent with many of his performances all week: start strong to take an early lead, and extend to defend that lead throughout the match. Except for a tight concluding match with Semi-Final rival Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing team, Seago did just this well in today's warm and hazy 5-7 knot conditions for the Finals. Yet even in yesterday's brisk 12-20+ knot conditions, Seago and his team's showed mastery of the of the boat and the race courses set on the current-strewn Detroit River.
In the Petit-Finals, Poole took an early lead and held this until the final downwind run, when rival Nick Egnot-Johnson and his team from New Zealand managed to catch the Riptide Racing team and with the smallest overlap drive them past the corner of the course and lead them back to the finish.
"We're really pleased with this year's excellent variety of conditions, the competitiveness of the field, and all the support given by our sponsors, volunteers, umpires, race managers and hosts to our teams," said regatta chairman Lance Smotherman. "We're pleased that one of our home teams managed to prevail against such an excellent field of competitors, and look forward to these teams coming back to try and win this trophy next year."
Next stop on the Grade 2 USA Grand Slam tour is at Oakcliff Sailing Center, followed by the Thompson Cup at Seawhanaka YC, both in Oyster Bay, NY. Winner of the USA Grand Slam gets an invitation to the 2019 Grade 1 Congressional Cup in Long Beach, CA.
Complete results are posted online at www.matchracingresults.com, as well as on the event website at www.detroitcup.com.
Final Results:
- Ryan Seago (USA)
- Will Boulton (AUS)
- Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL)
- Chris Poole (USA)
- James Wilson (NZL)
- Pearson Potts (USA)
- Finn Tapper (AUS)
- William Curtiss (USA)
- Clare Costanzo (AUS)
- Will Cyr (USA)