Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories

Sometimes it is hard putting together these regatta reports, trying to figure out what to write about in the report. Usually there is one or two things that stand out such as the competitive racing, well-coordinated after sailing events, catching up with old friends, or even the weather. In the case of Cumberland Cup this year we had everything. 

The Cumberland Cup is the top team race event held every other year in England. This event brings together the best team racers from across Europe and the United States. The Cumberland Cup is a two vs two team race which is the exact same format as Gene Schenck where to win the race just don’t let one of your boats get last. The event was hosted by Royal Thames Yacht Club in London, England in the brand-new sonar sailboats. By doing it this way it allowed for four people in a boat and incorporated the use of spinnakers while racing. 

Now before we dive into the fun stuff one thing to note, we did not sail on the river Thames in London. We instead sailed on the Queen Mary Reservoir forty-five minutes west of the city by the airport. 

The first day was a significant struggle with the wind god’s not cooperating it became evident around two that no sailing was going to happen that day. The next day arrive as quickly as we expected, and we got on the bus and headed out to the racecourse. After a brief postponement we were off. In the first day we only had two losses which comfortably placed us one point in second place behind New York Yacht Club. It was a hard-fought day of sailing, but the team felt comfortable with the momentum we had generated to carry it into the next day. 

The last day came, and the format was released. It was going to be a gold/silver round robin followed by a knockout round following the completion of the first-round robin. With our success from the day prior continuing to hold we made it to the gold round ultimately winning the gold round robin and were to face Eastern Yacht Club in a first to two wins knockout round. 

The team did an incredible job fighting hard for their position and defeated Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead, Massachusetts in two races to then move on to the finals against Royal Thames Yacht Club the host club. 

The finals were a hard-fought series of racing. The format was the first to two wins would win the regatta overall. The first race NHYC had a great race securing one race win followed by Royal Thames securing a win in the second race. This meant everything boiled down to the last race. 

The gun for the race went off and it was clear that both clubs wanted to win this race. There were umpire flags flying, circles being spun, traps being set, and race positions being dictated by umpires. The race was utter madness. Sadly, the stars were not in alignment that day and The Royal Thames Yacht Club secured their victory for their club. Though we may have finished second we were proud of the racing we did. 

By finishing second though it has laid some interesting storyline though. The next time the event will be held it will be 2025 which will also be the Royal Thames Yacht Club’s 250^th anniversary. Would be an interesting plot twist if the second-place team returned and won the following year, we will just have to wait and see. 

Thank you Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation for your support for these style of events, without your support events like this would not be possible.