Newcomers bring talent and experience to 2024 Resolute Cup

by Michelle Slade 22 Aug 2024 03:03 AEST September 9-14, 2024

San Francisco sailor Daniel Thielman is on fire this year on the national racing circuit, winning multiple championships in the Melges 20 class where he's also the defending world champion.

He recently returned to his home club, the Corinthian Yacht Club of San Francisco (Tiburon, Calif.), with the IC37 National Championship title after a tremendous battle in that talented-stacked fleet. This September, however, will mark the first time that his club has fielded a team in the Resolute Cup, motivated by Thielman's desire to qualify for the prestigious Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, which will next take place in September 2025.

"Members of our Corinthian Yacht Club purchased an IC37 back in 2023 to prepare for the Invitational Cup," says Thielman. "After a year of preparation, we've assembled a team that is ready to make a qualifying bid."

Thielman will be sailing with trimmers Jen Canestra and Auric Horneman, who have been his constant and trusted teammates for over 10 years of racing Melges boats together, and Nick Voss.

"We currently race in the Melges 20, Melges 14, and IC37 one-design fleets around the country, and PHRF race our Melges 32 on San Francisco Bay," Thielman says. "We hope that adding Nick as a tactician for the Resolute Cup, with his many years of junior, college and adult team racing experience, will give us the edge we need to be competitive."

Since 2010, the Resolute Cup has served as a Corinthian Championship for U.S. Yacht Clubs and the only guaranteed pathway for an American club to earn a berth in the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, Corinthian sailing's most prestigious international competition. The seventh edition of the biennial competition—the event was not sailed in 2020—is scheduled for September 9 to 14 at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. The 2024 Resolute Cup will utilize the Club's fleet of Sonars, with provided sails, equalized rig tune and on-the-water umpiring ensuring sailing's ultimate level playing field. The 2024 New York Yacht Club Regatta Association regatta calendar is supported by Helly Hansen, Hammetts Hotel, Safe Harbor Marinas and Peters & May.

While Thielman has shown remarkable ability across multiple one-design classes, the Sonar, a displacement boat with a symmetric spinnaker, is a bit of a departure from what he and his team normally sail.

"Every boat we own, and every fleet we compete in, has asymmetric kites," he says. "We have gotten in limited practices on J/22s to prepare, but with our aggressive championship race schedule in other fleets, we are mostly going to be winging it with a symmetric kite. I would not be surprised if we have a slow start, with results that steadily improve throughout the week."

Other first-time competitors in the Resolute Cup in 2024 include Edgewater Yacht Club (Cleveland, Ohio), Bay Waveland Yacht Club (Bay St. Louis, Miss.), and Charleston Yacht Club (Charleston, S.C.).

A passion for small-to-medium boat one-design sailing is the driving force behind Lee Sacket's long-standing interest in the Resolute Cup. As the skipper representing Edgewater, he's excited about the diverse and skilled team his club has put together.

"We're very lucky to have Jeff Eiber; he is extremely accomplished winning in almost every fleet and can make any boat go fast," says Sackett. "My first priority was securing him for the event. Lance Polen is also an accomplished sailor, winning the Highlander fleet several times, while Abby Probst has tons of time sailing in several classes, mostly the Lightning. I'm excited about the different assets each individual brings to the team."

Representing Bay Waveland Yacht Club is skipper Zak Fanberg, who grew up sailing on Minnesota's Lake Minnetonka, He met his wife Sarah Taylor at the College of Charleston where he was on the sailing team and they still race together. The couple will be racing with friends Eugene Schmitt and David Blouin; Taylor crewed for Schmitt as far back as high school, so the sailing connection between the Bay Waveland team is tight.

"David and Eugene are both fantastic sailors in their own right, Eugene was a two-time All-American at the Naval Academy, he's one of the nation's top Sunfish sailors, and we race Vipers together a lot," says Fanberg. "Being in Newport this time of year is phenomenal given it's so hot down south, so that's a really good reason for our team to compete in the Resolute Cup! We're really looking forward to fantastic competition; a lot of old friends from college will be sailing the event so it will be like a reunion of sorts—it brings back memories of racing in college sailing these type of short races."

Racing for the Resolute Cup will start on Wednesday, September 11. On Saturday, September 14, the top half of the fleet will be conclude the regatta with three double-point races. Racing will take place on Narragansett Bay between Rose and Goat islands starting at 10:30 am each morning and running through the afternoon, weather permitting.