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This May, NHYC sent a team consisting of Charlie Welsh, Tori Thompson, Bill Menninger, Doug Rastello, Mandy McDonnell, Tyler Macdonald, Sally Mace, and myself [Andrew Person] to the Cumberland Cup in London. This edition of the Cumberland Cup was a 2 on 2 team race held on the Queen Mary Reservoir in Royal Thames YC’s brand new fleet of Sonars. The boats were so new that some of us helped install parts of the rigging prior to taking them out for their maiden voyages. The Cumberland Cup was first held in 1775, so it was incredible to be a part of the 248th anniversary of the event.
The practice day and first day of competition ended up having such light winds that we were unable to complete a race. We had opportunities to practice our boat handling and get a feel for the boats, but the wind was never strong or stable enough to complete a race. The team went into the evening’s festivities with confidence and excitement for the first race the following morning.
As part of the event, RTYC hosted a private tour and dinner at the house of parliament. We were able to learn more about the incredible site and spend time with our competitors, many of which had competed against us at other regattas last year.
On the 2nd day of competition, one of our skippers came down with food poisoning and was unable to compete. For almost any other team racing program, that would have meant the regatta was unwinnable. For NHYC, it was just another opportunity to show how deep our team racing program is. Sally Mace stepped up from trimming the main and spinnaker and drove the rest of the regatta. Despite a couple of bad starts on my end, Sally won every pin start, and we ended up going 7-2 that day to finish 2nd in the round robin. On the 3rd day, we started off with a double gold round robin where team NHYC went undefeated. The team was clicking well and quickly taking advantage of any mistakes other teams made. NHYC went into the knockouts as the 1st place seeded team.
Until this point in the regatta, we had light to moderate breeze with big wind shifts. Despite the significant variability in the breeze, the racing was very fair and no races were decided by a shift. NHYC raced Eastern YC in the first to 2 wins semi-finals. After winning 3 consecutive races (due to a resail), NHYC would move on to race the home team, Royal Thames, in the finals.
The finals were a perfect example of why team racing is so fun to all of us. In the 2 on 2 format, there is no need to remember plays or calculate total points as in 4 on 4. Instead, the team with the boat in last loses the race. With most races, you see the aggressive team racing starting at or after the first mark. Against RTYC, we had boats going backwards and doing big dial downs halfway up the first beat of all 3 races! Both teams held a lead in every single race and fought hard to the finish. We split the first two races and went into a winner take all final race. During that final race, we had 5 lead changes in the first two legs of the course, but after an unfortunate downwind leg, RTYC won the race and regatta.
We are incredibly grateful for the opportunities we have had due to the support from the Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation. To be able to compete at such a high international level, privately tour the house of parliament, and travel abroad with great friends in one trip is an incredible experience.