O'Leary Third in First Race of New York Cup

17th September 2009

Afloat.ie Team

O'Leary Third in First Race of New York Cup

Cork's Anthony O'Leary lies third after race one of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup and Dublin's Michael Cotter is in seventh after a blustery open to the event yesterday.

The Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) won today’s opening race in the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup and was pre-empted from showing its prowess in a second race when sailing had to be abandoned due to wind and technical difficulties. The race, sailed in lumpy seas and an 18-knot easterly on Rhode Island Sound, started the regatta off with lots of action, as the Canadian boat, helmed by Terry McLaughlin, battled most closely with the New York Yacht Club, Royal Cork Yacht Club (IRL) and Japan Sailing Federation for best position between the start and the first mark two miles to windward.

“Japan (with Makoto Uematsu steering) had the best start,” said McLaughlin “and we had a good lane, but a huge left shift made us overstand the mark. There were boats farther to our left, but the Japanese were not as affected and rounded first.” The Canadians passed the Japanese team on the run to round the bottom mark first and carried their lead to the finish. New York (Phil Lotz of New Canaan, Conn./Newport, R.I., skippering), Royal Cork (Anthony O’Leary skippering), and the Japan Sailing Federation finished second, third, and fourth, respectively, with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (Mark Watson skippering) rounding out the top five.

The Yacht Club Italiano’s skipper Carlo Puri Negri could have been happier at the end of the day. As it was, shortly after the start, the stitching at the head of his jib failed, causing the webbing to pull from the sail and render it useless. He was sitting in fourth, he said, at the time of the mishap. “We sailed the rest of the race with just a mainsail,” said Puri Negri. The same thing happened to the Nylandska Jaktklubben team (FIN), with Leonardo Ferragamo at the helm, and the jibs were promptly rushed to shore and repaired while the fleet moved from “outside” on the Sound to an “inside” course on northern Narragansett Bay where the waters are more protected.

“While the fleet waited for the second race to start, the wind increased to 22 knots,” said Swan 42 Class President Paul Zabetakis, explaining that this is the limit for constant winds in this regatta in accordance with the NOR, “Another jib had failed in the meantime, and that, coupled with the sustained wind strength, made it clear the racing needed to be abandoned.

“To North’s credit, they jumped right on the situation to fix the first two jibs, and tonight they will rework all the jibs so that racing can get underway again tomorrow,” said Zabetakis.

The regatta continues through Saturday (Sept. 19) when a Parade of Nations through Newport Harbor will precede the final races to determine the winner and will showcase the 19 teams from 14 countries competing here.

Nightly reports, blogs, daily video and results are available here. Live-race tracking by Kattack can be followed here.

The complete list of competing clubs is as follows:

Japan Sailing Federation (Tokyo, Japan)

New York Yacht Club (New York, N.Y., USA)

Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Hamburg, Germany)

Nyländska Jaktklubben (Helsinki, Finland)

Real Club Nautico Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain)

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Royal Canadian Yacht Club (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

Royal Cork Yacht Club (County Cork, Ireland)

Royal Danish Yacht Club (Hellerup, Denmark)

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (Hong Kong, China)

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (Auckland, New Zealand)

Royal Ocean Racing Club (London, England)

Royal St. George Yacht Club (County Dublin, Ireland)

Royal Thames Yacht Club (London, England)

Royal Yacht Squadron (London, England)

St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco, Calif., USA)

Yacht Club Costa Smeralda (Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy)

Yacht Club de France (Paris, France)

Yacht Club Italiano (Genoa, Italy)

Published in Clipper Race

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About the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race

The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is undoubtedly one of the greatest ocean adventures on the planet, also regarded as one of its toughest endurance challenges. Taking almost a year to complete, it consists of eleven teams competing against each other on the world’s largest matched fleet of 70-foot ocean racing yachts.

The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop, around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing; it is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors. Around 40 per cent of crew are novices and have never sailed before starting a comprehensive training programme ahead of their adventure.

This unique challenge brings together everyone from chief executives to train drivers, nurses and firefighters, farmers, airline pilots and students, from age 18 upwards, to take on Mother Nature’s toughest and most remote conditions. There is no upper age limit, the oldest competitor to date is 76.

Now in its twelfth edition, the Clipper 2019-20 Race started from London, UK, on 02 September 2019.