Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Day 1

Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Day 1 © ROLEX / Daniel Forster

Despite hurdles, familiar faces surge to the fore

With a punchy 15-knot easterly and six-foot seas, the first day of the ninth edition of the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup was a trial by fire for the 20 all-amateur crews pursuing Corinthian yachting's most treasured prize. A lot of teams got singed, some were burned and will carry the scars for the duration of the regatta. When the dust cleared there were familiar names at the top of the leaderboard with four more days and up to nine races remaining.

Defending champion San Diego Yacht Club (above, foreground) was over the line early in the first race then rallied for a 7-1-1 scoreline that put it into the lead, by two points, over the very steady Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. Four points further back, in third, is two-time Invitational Cup champions Royal Canadian Yacht Club. The Canadian team was also OCS in Race 1, grinding back to 10th and then, with clean starts, scored a third and a second in the remaining races.

"I was pretty frustrated with myself for that one," said Jake La Dow, skipper for San Diego Yacht Club, of the start to Race 1. "There was a big right shift in the last probably 30 seconds to the start. It got us a little too close to the line and we didn't have enough room to kill any speed and bear away far enough and ended up being over by about a meter. We found a couple of lanes, and we had some really good wheels. We were able to kind of just chip away and use our speed and try to keep clear from all the boats around us and pass one boat at a time. We had a really good downwind on the first downwind, passing, I think, four or five boats. The team never faltered at all."

Twenty teams from 12 countries will compete in the ninth Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, a biennial regatta hosted by the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. Since the event was first run in 2009, it has attracted top amateur sailors from 52 of the world's most prestigious yacht clubs from 23 countries.

After five editions in the Swan 42 class, the 2025 event will be the fourth sailed in the IC37, designed by Mark Mills. The strict one-design nature of this purpose-built class, combined with the fact that each boat is owned and maintained by the New York Yacht Club, ensures a level playing field not seen in any other amateur big-boat sailing competition. The regatta will run from Saturday, September 6, through Saturday, September 13, with racing starting on Tuesday, September 9. A live broadcast on Facebook and YouTube, starting on Wednesday, September 10, will allow fellow club members, friends, family and sailing fans from around the world to follow the action as it happens. The 2025 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is brought to you by title sponsor Rolex and regatta sponsors Helly Hansen, Safe Harbor Marinas and Peters & May.

In second overall after three races sits Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. The eight-time Invitational Cup competitor scored its best overall finish ever in 2023 with a fifth. Intent on moving up the podium, captain and main trimmer Nick Burns brought back the same team and was rewarded with the most consistent scoreline of the day, 3-4-4. The second race, according to tactician Duncan Gregor, was the hardest won and most satisfying.

Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Day 1 - photo © ROLEX / Daniel Forster

"We had a decent start, a little bit back, but held in well," says the 21-year-old. "Then we had not the greatest tack, which then led to us missing a cross, and then we were working hard. We were a bit over lay on the port lay line, and then we had a few issues on the hoist, then we did an early jibe, and the kite sheets all got caught, so we dropped back pretty far. From there, we did really well. We had a quick downwind—we were quick all day downwind, which was really nice—and then a good gate approach, got in and out cleanly, and then went to the correct side of the course."

For Gregor's counterpart on the Royal Canadian Yacht Club's entry, it was the first race that required the most work.

"Just that first race nerves," said Greg Douglas. "We got a little trigger happy on the start and had to go back. But I'm really proud of the crew. Once we realized we were OCS, we just executed and were able to climb back to 10th."

With a clean start in the second and third races, Douglas and his teammates were able to parlay their deep experience in the IC37 in adverse conditions into a speed advantage that resulted in two podium finishes.

"In those conditions, it's a lot of fun, it was full on," he said. "It's great when you're sailing around in 16 knots, and these boats are all still bow to stern, and the racing is nice and tight."

Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup Day 1 - photo © ROLEX / Daniel Forster

Another team that rebounded nicely after a tough first race is the crew from the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, which finished 11th in Race 1 and then scored a second and a fifth to close out the day with 18 points, good enough for sixth place. According to skipper Johanna Sommarlund, the team's downwind speed was a key to their success.

"I really like the surfy, choppy stuff that we had today on the downwind," said Sommarlund, 29, who was a top dinghy sailor in her youth. "I think we caught up with two boats every downwind, so that was really good for us. The upwinds are tricky. So that's something that we will really have to work on, just fine tune the jib, fine tune the main. I found that the upwinds were much trickier than the downwinds."

The 2025 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will continue tomorrow through Saturday, September 13, with racing starting at 11 am (EDT), weather permitting. Live coverage of each race, via YouTube and Facebook, will start tomorrow with Race 4 of the regatta.

Results after Day 1:

• Follow the 2025 Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup
• Crew List