Three former champions lead the Resolute Cup after four races on Narragansett Bay, with Jamestown’s Conanicut Yacht Club 14th in the 23-club field.
Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead, which won in 2010, leads with eight points. Corinthian Yacht Club, also of Marblehead and the two-time defending champion, is second at 11, and Newport Harbor Yacht Club of Newport Beach, California, the 2014 winner, is third at 13.
Light wind and strong full-moon tides made for a tactical opening day.
“It seemed like there was some right-side dominance with the current,” said Alden Reid of Eastern. “And so we tried to use that game plan in the second and third race, get off the line clean and try to sail up the middle as much as possible.”
The host New York Yacht Club started slowly but won the fourth race and sits 11th. Conanicut opened with a fifth and an eighth before a 17th in the final race of the day.
The regatta runs through Saturday, Oct. 3, with roughly 18 to 20 races expected. The 23 teams rotate through 18 boats, so each sits out one race in four.
Held since 2010, the Resolute Cup is a Corinthian championship for U.S. yacht clubs — amateur crews only — and the only guaranteed path for an American club to qualify for the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. It’s sailed in the club’s Sonars with supplied sails and equalized rig tune.
