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British-American Cup 2008 		click for details

 
 


The Publisher
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Oct 22, 2008, 3:58 PM

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Bill Denslow, Rear-Commodore, Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club

America wins British-American Cup for 5th consecutive time


Oyster Bay, Long Island (October 19, 2008)…The American team representing Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club has won the British-American Cup for the 5th consecutive time, by a score of 7 races to 4. The racing was held in Sonars on Oyster Bay, with light air and chop on day one, medium breeze and chop on day two, and heavy air and flat water on day three.

The Americans had a clear boat speed advantage on the first day, winning all four races, three of them with a 1-2-3 combination. However, the Americans were reminded of a similar situation where they led by a 4-0 at the end of the first day in the 2003 event in Cowes… an event that ultimately was decided in the final race.

Despite their determination not to let the Brits back into the regatta, the British team had the upper hand on day two, winning 3 of 4 races held, and closing the gap to a 5-3 American advantage heading into the last day.

On day three, the wind was strong, 20-25 knots throughout the first few races. The Race Committee moved the race course around to West Harbor, a protected area of flat water, but with only a small strip of beach separating it from Long Island Sound, the strong northerly breezes were ever present. The Americans had the upper hand in the big breeze with superior boat handling downwind, and won 2 of 3 races to take the match 7-4.

The highlight of the regatta for the Americans occurred on the final windward leg of the final race. The Americans rounded the last leeward mark with a 1-2-7-8 combination… a losing combination in four on four team racing. Karl Ziegler’s boat, (with Greg Stevens and Mike Welch) rounded in the back of the fleet and immediately tacked to the left onto starboard tack. They were covered by one British boat, but had their bow out slightly. On the other side of the race course, the two American boats who had rounded in the 1-2, skippered by Andy Herlihy and Josh Adams, were covering two British boats, but keeping a close eye on the Ziegler boat. Herlihy and Adams held on to the 1-2, controlling their competitors on the right. Ziegler was slowly gaining on the British boat, nosing slowly out. They would have to pull clear ahead to be able to tack and cross the Brit boat, since they would be tacking on to port tack.

Herlihy and Adams continued to slow their competitors, while still moving towards the finish, and once Ziegler had tacked and crossed (quite near the port tack lay line to the finish), the Americans trimmed up and sprinted to end. The Americans won the final race with a 1-2-4-8 combination to take the final race and win the event for the 5th time in a row.

Representing the USA were:
Karl Ziegler, Greg Stevens, Mike Welch
Tim Wadlow, Robbie Deane, Joel Hanneman
Andy Herlihy, Peter Johnson, Ryan Costello
Josh Adams, Dean Brenner, Chris Museler

Results: http://www.seawanhaka.org/...%20Cup%20Results.xls




The Publisher
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Oct 22, 2008, 4:10 PM

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Short History of the BA Cup
The British-American Cup competition was started in 1921 between Seawanhaka and four British yacht clubs. It is claimed to be the oldest international team racing event in the universe. There are two British clubs (The Royal Yacht Squadron and the Royal Thames Yacht Club) that alternate in hosting the regatta in Cowes every fourth year; they also alternate the organization of the British team when they come to Oyster Bay.

There have been three previous series (Series 1, four races between 1921 and 1924; Series 2, three races between 1928 and 1932; Series 3, four races between 1934 and 1949). We are in the midst of Series 4, of which there have been seventeen races. A summary of these reveals that the match has been held every other year with some significant exceptions. It was not raced during the 1960’s and the 1980’s had some missing years.

During the 1950’s they raced three-on-three in similar but not identical boats. From 1974 – 1980 the match was held in Solings, but switched to Sigma 33’s, J-35’s, Melges 24’s and even Beneteau First 8’s during the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. Since 2001, the race has been held in Sonars.

Skippers and crews have tended to be the best amateurs in the respective countries. Prior to 1986 the race was between Seawanhaka members and members of the four British yacht clubs. Subsequent to that date, it became a match between countries; i.e. the ‘best of the best’ that the US has, pitted against the best British racers. Seawanhaka’s skippers have been such experienced sailors as Glen Foster, Steve Benjamin, Robert Mosbacher and various former Seawanhaka members. In 1996, Steve Benjamin pulled together a blue-ribbon team from St. Petersburg Yacht Club, NYYC and Ida Lewis. In 1998, Graeme and Garrett Woodworth pulled together a team of dinghy team racers that went to Cowes and struggled in the conditions and with their inexperience in the First Class 8s. They were handily defeated by the Brits.

Soon afterwards, SCYC did two things – they began to build a team of experienced team racers who would make a long-term commitment to the club, and they pushed their British counterparts to commit to sailing the event in a class of boats available on both sides of the Atlantic. Starting with the 2001 Cup, Sonars became the boat of choice for the event, and SCYC, with the coaching and encouragement of Dean Brenner, began to build a strong team.

SCYC won the event in 2001 on Oyster Bay, by a 7-4 margin. The core of that team committed to race again in 2003. 11 of the same 12 sailors would return. They repeated their victory in 2003 at Cowes in an event decided on a tie-breaker. The Americans won the last race of the event giving them the win, despite the 6-6 overall score. At the conclusion of the event, once again most of the team committed to stay on, and 10 of the 12 on the 2003 team would race in 2005. SCYC won again at home in 2005 in an uncompetitive event, by the score of 7-0. The roster consistency for the Americans would continue, with 8 members of the team committing to return for 2007 in Cowes.




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