Texas Corinthian Yacht Club wins Grandmasters Team Race for third time in five years
by New York Yacht Club 18 Aug 06:34 UTC
August 18-20, 2023
2025 New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race Regatta © Stuart Streuli / New York Yacht Club
It's been six years since Texas Corinthian Yacht Club finished worse than second in the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race. The team made sure that streak would continue with a dominating run in the round-robin portion of this year's event. TCYC sealed its third championship in the last five years with a 3-1 final series victory over Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, the only club to take a race off the eventual champions over the course of three days. Ida Lewis Yacht Club completed the podium, a significant improvement from ninth a year ago.
"We've been working on boatspeed, and we've been working on boat handling, and we've been working on team racing, and they all were needed against a really good team," says Gerard Coleman, team captain for Texas Corinthian. "Slack off on boatspeed, boathandling or tactics and you're out of the hunt, all the teams are really good in all those departments."
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. This year, the Club has added the New York Yacht Club Great Grandmasters Team Race Regatta to the schedule, for skippers 70 or older and crew 60 or older. The 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 2025 include Helly Hansen, Peters & May, and Safe Harbor Marinas.
After two days of light breeze, today was a marked change, with the race committee flying the K flag, signifying no spinnakers, from the outset. The meaty southerly breeze, which was accompanied by abundant sunshine and a good helping of humidity, started in the mid-teens and was gusting well into the 20s by the time the regatta concluded in early afternoon.
More wind doesn't always equal better team racing. But today's championship best-of-five series was a taut, back-and-fourth affair replete with advanced team racing moves and numerous lead changes. Seawanhaka had solid control of the first two races, but in each case the Texans were able to turn the tables and pull a win out of what seemed sure to be a loss. Seawanhaka squeaked out a win in the third race before Texas Corinthian closed out the regatta in the fourth.
"Of all the Grandmasters we've done, this was loaded with the most talent," said TCYC skipper Gary Ross. "Our club boat is a Sonar, and we do a lot of fleet racing. I think that really helps with the boatspeed. And [Coleman] organizes practices throughout the year. We may have two on two, we may have two boats on one, or we may have three on three. And given on our weather conditions, we can practice all year round, so I think that's an advantage."
In addition to winning the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Regatta, Texas Corinthian Yacht Club won the Peter L. Wilson Trophy, which is given to the top finishing club across five grandmasters-level team races. This was the fifth year in a row TCYC has won this trophy, which is named for one of the primary driving forces behind the grandmasters team racing circuit.
2025 New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race Champions: Texas Corinthian Yacht Club: Gerard Coleman (skipper and team captain), Marjorie Crawford, Sam Pyne, Randy Roberston, Gary Ross (skipper), Ann Graham, Joel Scott, Eric Ellis, Clark Thompson (skipper) Mary Milby, Pierce Owens and Paul Thompson, with Peter Wilson (white hat, holding trophy) and Vice Commodore Clare Harrington (far left). - photo © Stuart Streuli / New York Yacht Club
Overall Results:
Championship Series
Texas Corinthian Yacht Club def. Seawanhaka CorinthianYacht Club, 3-1
Round Robin
1. Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, Kemah, Texas (17-1);
2. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, N.Y. (15-3);
3. Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Newport, R.I. (10-8);
4. New York (N.Y.) Yacht Club - Lotz (9-9);
5. Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Newport Beach, Calif. (9-9);
6. New York Yacht Club - Altreuter (9-9);
7. Larchmont (N.Y.) Yacht Club (9-9);
8. Storm Trysail Club, Larchmont, N.Y. (6-12);
9. Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans, La., (4-14);
10. Gamla Stans YS, Stockholm, Sweden (2-16).