The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club overcame early disaster to vault into second place Friday at the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, setting up a dramatic final day of racing.
The Canadian team posted scores of 5-1-1 on Day 4 to climb from outside podium contention into second place overall with 61.1 points, just 6 points behind defending champion San Diego Yacht Club.
“It felt amazing,” said skipper Ben Mumford. “This is what we’ve been shooting for, this is what we wanted for the past three cycles.”
The turnaround is remarkable considering the team’s regatta nearly ended before it began. A collision during the first start left their IC37 with a bent spreader bracket that couldn’t be repaired. The team started with a sixth place and two did-not-finishes while working past sunset Tuesday to prepare a replacement boat.
Royal Vancouver had acquired an IC37 specifically for this regatta, hoping better familiarity with the platform would improve on their 12th-place finish in 2021 and ninth in 2023. But with no other IC37s within 2,000 miles of their Vancouver base, training was limited to solo efforts on English Bay.
“We were fortunate to be able to hire a coach that could come in and, politely, I’ll say, criticize us,” said pitman Arthur Gooch. “A lot of our practice back home was focused on maneuvers.”
That preparation paid dividends Friday in challenging conditions.
“When you’re in those trying conditions, especially today in that chop, it was all the crew,” Mumford said. “It was the trimmers up and down and the team moving in unison, everybody just working together.”
San Diego remains in first place despite a difficult day that included a 16th-place finish in the second race. The California club’s lead, which stood at 17 points entering Friday, has been cut to effectively 7 points.
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club sits third, 9 points behind San Diego, while five teams are separated by just 12 points fighting for the final two podium positions.
Saturday’s final race has been delayed until 1 p.m. due to light wind conditions forecast for the morning. The race area will be determined Saturday morning.
Twenty teams from 12 countries are competing in the biennial regatta, which attracts top amateur sailors from prestigious yacht clubs worldwide. The event is sailed in IC37s designed by Mark Mills, with all boats owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club to ensure a level playing field.
Royal Vancouver needs to put seven boats between itself and San Diego to claim the title. But regardless of Saturday’s outcome, the team has already exceeded expectations.
“I’ve been getting a bunch of text messages, as have a bunch of the rest of the crew,” Gooch said. “A lot of people are really excited about what we’re doing.”
Live coverage of Saturday’s deciding race begins at 12:55 p.m. on YouTube and Facebook.
