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  Memorial Day racing, AC35 begins—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond
 | | Swiftsure International Yacht Race, Victoria Brenda Jacques |
Memorial Day is traditionally a day of remembrance for our nation's fallen heroes, a tradition that began in (circa) 1868 with Decoration Day, which honored the brave soldiers who died fighting America's bloodiest conflict, the Civil War, but has expanded its scope to now commemorate all who have paid the ultimate price to ensure our freedom. While there is a certain necessary gravitas surrounding this nationally important day, the holiday also marks the unofficial start of summer and a time when family, friends and neighbors come together for barbeques, ball games and block parties.
Racing sailors, too, traditionally gather for races big and small over Memorial Day weekend, with big events unfurling from coast to coast, as well as in the island nation of Bermuda, where racing for Round Robin 1 of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers began on Saturday, May 27.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, distance-racing sailors traditionally aim their bows for the seaside village of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and the start of the annual Swiftsure Race, which carries the fleet down the length of the Strait of Juan de Fuca (the RC organizes multiple courses, allowing crews to choose their own adventure), with the longest of the various courses punching out into the open Pacific before reversing course and heading back to Victoria.
 | | Swiftsure International Yacht Race 2013 Brenda Jacques |
Some 3,000 miles to the east and south of Seattle, sailors participating in the Storm Trysail Club's annual Block Island Race were challenged by 186 nautical miles of sailing that encompassed numerous challenges, including exiting Long Island Sound, getting around Block Island, negotiating the entrance back into Long Island Sound, and then clearing the finishing line off of Stamford Yacht Club's breakwater.
 | | Malcom Clarke's J44 Diogenes2 crashes upwind - Block Island Race Week © Rolex / Dan Nerney |
While the Block Island Race and the Swiftsure Race are both serious-minded events that determine local bragging rights and help crews prepare for bigger offshore challenges, the annual Figawi Race, which takes crews from Hyannis, Massachusetts to the island of Nantucket, offers a bit more of a “run-what-ya-brung” attitude that's reportedly more focused on enjoying great times with family and friends than it is concerned with tweaking handicap ratings or cutthroat competition.
 | | Going to Figawi! US Sailing |
Although plenty of other great events also unfurled this weekend across the USA, including the Spinnaker Cup Regatta (Belvedere, California), the Goat Float (Bayview, Idaho), the TurnBack Canyon Regatta (Austin, Texas) and the Coastal Cup Race (Monterey, California), thousands of American and Canadian sailors spent their weekend rabidly glued to their TVs and internet connections to catch the first on-the-water drama of the 35th America's Cup, which began on Saturday following a postponement on Friday due to winds exceeding the event's official wind range ( six to 24 knots).
 | | Oracle Team USA - 35th America's Cup 2017 ACEA - Photo Gilles Martin-Raget |
Given the legendary levels of tomfoolery, subterfuge and “fake news” (remember the alleged “Herbie” from AC34?) that have long surrounded the Auld Mug, it's hard to take anything that happens before the starting guns fire in earnest as serious-minded stuff, but-for the first time in this Cup cycle-the gloves have come off and some secrets were revealed. For starters, Artemis Racing, who entered Round Robin 1 of the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers as the heavily tipped favorite, suffered two losses, including hits from Sir Ben Ainslie's Land Rover BAR and Franck Cammas' Groupama Team France, as well as two wins (SoftBank Team Japan and Oracle Team USA), but it was the defender, Oracle Team USA, that foiled away the clear winner of the first round robin, suffering only one loss to Artemis Racing out of five races contested.
 | | America's Cup - Qualifiers Race Day 1 ACEA / Ricardo Pinto |
To be fair, there are still three races to go in Round Robbin 1 (Land Rover BAR vs. Groupama Team France; Artemis Racing vs. Emirates Team New Zealand, and Groupama Team France vs. Softbank Team Japan), which is expected to wrap up today, Monday May 29; racing for the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers Round Robin 2 begins on Tuesday (May 30) and is expected to continue through Saturday, June 3.
As of this writing, Oracle Team USA is topping the Louis Vuitton America's Cup Qualifiers leaderboard with a total of five points, followed by Land Rover BAR and Emirates Team New Zealand with three points apiece, followed by Artemis Racing (two points), SoftBank Team Japan (one point) and Groupama Team France (one point), however it's important to note here that teams were able to carry points from the already-concluded America's Cup World Series into the Qualifiers.
 | | Race 6 - Land Rover BAR and Softbank Team Japan collision - 35th America's Cup - Bermuda May 27, 2017 Richard Gladwell |
So while Oracle Team USA looks to have a speed advantage at this stage of the regatta, it's critical to remember that this is an almost month-long event and-given the speeds and tolerances involved with these yachts-there's always the chance of calamity (as struck Sir Ben Ainslie's squad when Land Rover BAR and SoftBank Team Japan collided in their pre-start maneuvers, punching a hole in Rita [the name of all of Sir Ben Ainslie's racing yachts] and resulting in a penalty against the British-flagged foiler) or development (read: AC34) so stay tuned as this show is just getting started!
May the four winds blow you safely home,
David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor
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