Corinthian Yacht Club's run of excellence continues with win at Morgan Cup
by New York Yacht Club 4 Aug 00:15 UTC
August 1 - 3, 2025
2025 Morgan Cup Team Race © Julia Boron
Corinthian Yacht Club won the 22nd edition of the Morgan Cup Team Race by two points, but it wasn't nearly that close. Over the course of three days, the Marblehead-based club showed why it has become a dominant force in team racing over the past few years. The reigning team racing world champions went 15 and 3 in the early stages of the Morgan Cup and then cruised to victory today, clinching the title with four races still to sail.
"It's been a big year for us," said team captain Will Bailey. "We're super fortunate to have a fleet of Sonars at the club in Marblehead. We've been getting a lot of time in the boats, which allowed us to get off to a pretty good start and then capitalize from there. Racing got a lot tighter in the gold fleet; we saw teams get better as they spent more time in the boats."
While Corinthian was able to coast through today's double gold round robin, Larchmont Yacht Club saw an opportunity to surge toward its best finish in the Morgan Cup since 2009. The Western Long Island Sound club went 5 and 1 against the cream of the crop in this year's event and clinched second place with Eastern Yacht Club taking third and Newport Harbor Yacht Club finishing fourth. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club claimed fifth as the best team in the Silver Fleet.
The New York Yacht Club helped usher in a new era of adult team racing with the creation of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy in 2000. That race, which requires skippers to be at least 45 years of age and crew to be over 40, was soon followed by the New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Morgan Cup an all-ages event, in 2003 and, in 2010, the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race Regatta, which mandates skippers be at least 60 years of age and crew at least 50. This year the Club has added the New York Yacht Club Great Grandmasters Team Race Regatta to the schedule, for skippers 70 or older and crew 60 or older. The three team races are traditionally held over consecutive weekends in August at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, using the Club's fleet of 22 Sonar keelboats, and annually attract some of the best adult team racers in the United States and Europe. New York Yacht Club Regatta Association sponsors for 2025 include Helly Hansen, Peters & May, and Safe Harbor Marinas.
In the five years since Covid cancelled the 2020 sailing season, Corinthian Yacht Club has finished third or better at each edition of the Morgan Cup. Winning this year required the team to execute some incredible comebacks, pulling victories out of races that seemed all but lost. A fleet of Sonars at home is key, but team racing is tough to practice in a vacuum. Iron sharpens iron, as the proverb goes.
"We're really fortunate to have a deep team," said Wade Waddell, one of Corinthian's skippers, along with Bailey and Evan Cooke. "We're able to practice a lot with six boats, or sometimes even nine, and really focus on the small things. [That gives us] confidence in the basics of speed and boathandling. When we're in those tough races, we remember all the hard work we put in at home, and trust our teammates and use that to get back in the race and pull ahead."
Larchmont Yacht Club was one of the original competitors in the Morgan Cup when the event started in the early 2000s. The team worked its way up to second in 2009, but hasn't seen the podium in more than a decade. Recent finished include a ninth in 2022, a 10th in 2023 and a fifth in 2024. After two solid days of racing on Friday and Saturday, Larchmont entered the gold round robin in a virtual tie for second with Eastern Yacht Club—winners in 2022 and 2023—and Newport Harbor Yacht Club, the defending champion. Thanks to some stellar sailing in today's light and shifty sea breeze, Larchmont vaulted two-points clear of its rivals to finish second. The credit for the team's rapid rise up the rankings this year has a familiar ring.
"We started a little bit rocky on Friday but picked up the pace over the weekend and came away really strong today with a five-and-one record in the gold fleet," said team captain Graham Landy. "The biggest difference for us over past years was our club finally got organized and purchased a fleet of Sonars, which had been a long time in the making. We had seven or eight opportunities to practice with a solid group of sailors this summer at home, and it made a huge difference in our boathandling and time and distance, and just really helped us punch into the next level."
The New York Yacht Club's team racing schedule will continue next weekend with the Hinman Masters. The Grandmasters will follow August 15 to 17 and the inaugural Great Grandmasters will take place August 22 and 23.
2025 Morgan Cup winning team, Corinthian Yacht Club: Will Bailey (skipper & team captain), Doug Sabin, Sam Madden, Ross Patterson, Evan Cooke (skipper), Forbes Barber, Tara Ferraris, Duncan Swain, Wade Waddell (skipper), Miranda Bakos, Allison Ferraris, Colleen O'Brien and Adam Roberts, (not in order, with Event Chair Steve Kirkpatrick (far right) and Vice Commodore Clare Harrington).
Overall Results:
1. Corinthian Yacht Club, Marblehead, Mass., (15-3, 3-3, 18 points)
2. Larchmont (N.Y.) Yacht Club, (11-7, 5-1, 16 points)
3. Eastern Yacht Club, Marblehead, Mass. (11-7, 3-3, 14 points)
4. Newport Harbor Yacht Club (12-6, 1-5, 13 points)
5. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, Oyster Bay, N.Y., (9-7, 3-2, 12 points)
6. St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, Calif., (8-8, 3-2, 11 points)
7. New York Yacht Club-Levesque, New York, N.Y., (6-12, 4-1, 10 points)
8. New York Yacht Club-Dochoda, New York, N.Y., (8-8, 0-5, 8 points)
9. Royal Thames Yacht Club, London, England, (6-12, 2-3, 8 points)
10. San Diego (Calif.) Yacht Club, (4-14, 3-2, 7 points)