New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup
20 Entries Accepted; Yacht Clubs to Field Amateur Teams
NEW
YORK, N.Y. (December 4, 2008)–Twenty yacht club teams from around the
world have accepted the New York Yacht Club’s (NYYC) invitation to
compete in the first-ever New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup.
Announced in August and scheduled to debut September 15-19, 2009, the
event is for Corinthian (amateur) sailors representing their yacht
clubs and respective nations. It will take place on the famed waters
off Newport, R.I., where Harbour Court, the NYYC’s on-the-water
clubhouse, is located.
"The response was greater than we could
ever have expected given the current business climate that affects the
world,” said NYYC Commodore David Elwell. "Many of the entries actually
arrived after the financial crisis became apparent. To date, we have
entries from five different continents.”
The event will
showcase the finest amateur sailors in the world and will be the most
significant event that the New York Yacht Club has hosted in recent
memory. For 132 years, the New York Yacht Club successfully defended
the America’s Cup and ran the America’s Cup races on Rhode Island Sound
for 53 years until 1983, when Australia finally wrested the Cup from
the U.S., ending the longest winning streak in sports history.
“The
New York Yacht Club and Newport, Rhode Island, are synonymous with
competition and fun,” said Russell Murphy, commodore of the Royal
Prince Alfred Yacht Club (RPAYC) in Australia, “and we became quickly
interested when we saw that this event is entirely consistent with our
encouragement over the years for members to participate in Corinthian
events. Our interest was further piqued because a group of mates could
get together, form a competitive amateur team ‘out of pocket’ and
encourage our families to join us. We could be surrounded by other
genuine amateurs, enjoy quality competition in an internationally
recognized venue and, as a byproduct, unashamedly showcase our club and
our home waters to like-minded people.”
Racing will be aboard
NYYC Club Swan 42s (www.swan42class.org), unique one-design
racer/cruisers created by the NYYC in partnership with Nautor’s Swan to
boost Corinthian sailing and promote increased competitiveness within
an owner-driver and amateur sailing framework. Introduced in October,
2006, it is the eighth one-design class developed by NYYC since 1900.
“With
the New York Yacht Club hosting and the world’s most illustrious yacht
clubs participating, the Invitational Cup is positioned to become the
Wimbledon of sailing,” said World Champion sailor Enrico Chieffi, who
is Nautor Group Marketing Director. “The Club Swan 42 levels the
playing field so that the focus can be on the skills of the individual
teams.”
The worldwide fleet of Club Swan 42s currently consists
of 46 boats, 23 of which are owned by New York Yacht Club members. The
NYYC awarded yachts to invited clubs based on the availability of
charter boats. Yacht clubs from outside the U.S.A. that wish to bring
their own boat and can comply with the Notice of Race may still submit
a request for an invitation. All submissions will be given careful
consideration.
“For us,” added RPAYC Commodore Murphy, “we are
traveling a long way to sail in unfamiliar waters in a yacht we will
see for the first time on the 10th of September 2009, so I suspect we
will have our work cut out for us. That said, the broader issue is of
genuinely friendly inter-club competition of which we are vocal
supporters. In this particular context, I applaud that initiative and
the effort to resurrect Corinthian racing because burgeoning
professionalism has effectively meant pricing quality competition out
of reach of many, to the detriment of our sport and our clubs. This is
a wonderful and timely competition.”
Italy’s Yacht Club Costa
Smeralda (YCCS), which is also fielding a team, has competed in NYYC
events before. “It is always a special emotion to sail off Newport and
to experience the very warm, welcoming atmosphere of Harbour Court,”
said YCCS Sports Director Edoardo Recchi. “At any kind of competition,
there is the pride of representing the burgee that you are racing for,
and on the water there is always the strong will to perform at your
best in the fairest way. The nice thing about friendly competition
between yacht clubs, however, is that once you have finished your race
and you arrive at your berth, all the people involved are interacting
and commenting on the just-finished races. The amicable atmosphere is
one of the best things about this type of competition.”
Recchi
explained that to determine its team YCCS is scheduling a series of
trials in Porto Cervo starting in early spring 2009. “The Team will be
put together to have the best possible mixture of skills needed to sail
the Club Swan 42. Another important factor is the team spirit and
creating a crew of sailors who instinctively work well together.”
Prizes
will be awarded to the top three teams, and the winning yacht club's
name will be engraved on the NYYC Invitational Cup that will be
permanently displayed at NYYC’s 44th Street Clubhouse in Manhattan.
Former NYYC Commodore Robert James and Trustee Charlie Robertson are
donating the trophy.
The participating clubs, to date, are:
Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Sydney, Australia
Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Hamilton, Bermuda
Royal Canadian Yacht Club ,Toronto, Canada
Royal Danish Yacht Club, Hellerup, Denmark
Yacht Club de France, Paris, France
Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, Hamburg, Germany
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, Hong Kong, China
Royal Cork Yacht Club, Co. Cork, Ireland
Royal St. George Yacht Club, Co. Dublin, Ireland,
Yacht Club Costa Smeralda , Porto Cervo, Italy,
Yacht Club Italiano, Genoa, Italy
Japan Sailing Federation, Tokyo, Japan
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Auckland, New Zealand
Royal Cape Yacht Club, Cape Town, South Africa
Real Club Nautico Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, United Kingdom
Royal Ocean Racing Club, London, United Kingdom
Royal Thames Yacht Club, London, United Kingdom
St.Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, Calif., USA
Full
details can be found at www.nyyc.org/worldinvitationalcup or contact
Event Chair John Mendez at Jmendez@nyyc.org or +1(401) 862-5202.
