Consistency across full range of conditions lifts Newport Harbor Yacht Club to 2024 Morgan Cup
by New York Yacht Club 11 Aug 16:22 PDT
August 9-11, 2024
2024 Morgan Cup © Stuart Streuli / New York Yacht Club
There's no official AP ranking for keelboat team racing, but if there were, it would be hard to argue against Newport Harbor Yacht Club, from Newport Beach, Calif., currently occupying the top spot. With a win at its Baldwin Cup in April and, earlier today, a win in the Morgan Cup held at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, the NHYC team-racing squad can claim simultaneous ownership of two of the most prestigious team-racing trophies in the world.
"This is super exciting," said Jake La Dow, team captain for NHYC (top photo, at left). "This is an event that we've targeted for a long time. We got second last year with the same core group. Our goal this year was to come back and win. We were just thrilled to cross that last race in a 1-2-3 [winning combination]. We knew that if we won that final race, we would win the event, and so as soon as we crossed the line we started cheering."
Second place was decided via a tie-breaker with New York Yacht Club - Levesque edging out Corinthian Yacht Club of Marblehead, Mass., on the basis of a better head-to-head record. Great Britain's Royal Thames Yacht Club finished fourth with Larchmont (N.Y.) Yacht Club rounding out the top five.
The New York Yacht Club helped usher in a new era of adult team racing with the creation of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy in 2000. That race, which requires skippers to be at least 45 years of age and crew to be over 40, was soon followed by the New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Morgan Cup, an all-ages event, in 2003 and, in 2010, the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race Regatta, which mandates skippers be at least 60 years of age and crew at least 50. The three team races are traditionally held over consecutive weekends in August at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, using the Club's fleet of 22 Sonar keelboats, and annually attract some of the best adult team racers in the United States and Europe. New York Yacht Club Regatta Association sponsors for 2024 include Helly Hansen, Peters & May, Hammetts Hotel and Safe Harbor Marinas.
While the conditions covered a broad range over the three-day event—with gusts into the mid 20s on Friday and then a morning delay today while the teams waited for the breeze to fill in—consistency on the racecourse regardless of the wind strength was crucial to the overall win.
"As a team, we started very consistently all event," said La Dow. "I think we only had maybe one or two races where we were really disadvantaged off the starting line. So [our keys to victory were] being very consistent on the starts, being disciplined in our team racing, really focusing on sailing the boats well first and just keeping it simple."
La Dow was quick to credit the entire 12-person squad, especially when it came to having success in the breezier conditions that kicked the regatta off with a bang on Friday.
"The skippers get a lot of the credit," said La Dow. "I'm doing this interview, but any of our team could be doing this right now. It really is a huge effort for the crew. Just sailing the boats is hard, and it takes all four people in the boat to do that well, nailing the pole on the jibe, flying the spinnaker correctly. If any one piece is out of place or not working at a high level, the whole mission fails. For those ranges and conditions, especially, it's all down to the crew."
And when it comes to getting the crew trained for these events, there's no substitute for an engaged yacht club.
"It starts with our club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club," said La Dow. "We have a ton of support to go out and do these types of events. We get out for weekly practices and weekend regattas quite a lot throughout the year. It's a big club effort."
Top-level team racing at the New York Yacht Club will continue this coming weekend with the Hinman Masters and then the following weekend with the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters.
Full results available here.