We have come a long way since 1903 and Reliance in terms of performance but not in terms of onboard drama – or in the case of the crews of these giant yachts trepidation about what will break or go wrong next. Reliance was Herreshoff’s biggest Cup yacht, easily defending the trophy against Lipton’s Shamrock III. Built to the Seawanhaka Rule she was the maximum 90-foot on the waterline but 201-feet overall from bowsprit to the end of a 108-foot boom. Known as the ‘freak’, Herreshoff himself promoted the Universal Rating Rule following the Reliance defence to bring a halt to the building of what he considered ‘extreme, expensive and dangerous vessels’
Reliance’s boom was lengthened by 2ft and her gaff 16in. Lots of development then. Lots of development now. Seeing four AC75s racing in Cagliari in April will hark back to the 1903 defender trials when all three of Captain Nat’s 90-footers went head to head – Columbia, Constitution and Reliance. We have something to look forward to!
CupExperience.com
A GOOD CAUSE – Dobbs Davis This past summer’s frenetic pace of activities in Newport was a reminder of how important this area is to national and international yachting: just about every form of sailing craft had major regattas held here, and plenty more are planned in 2020. Every season thousands of sailors enjoy racing or just pottering here. It took the 9/11 tragedy in 2001 to remind the local community
just how lucky they are, and a prompt to do what they could to raise funds for good causes while enjoying the sport they love. In that first year the Sail for Pride regatta attracted 180 entries and raised $110,000 to assist those most affected by the attacks. The regatta’s success prompted organisers at Sail Newport to
make this an annual event that brings together the entire sailing community. Rebranded as Sail for Hope the event has since raised over $1million in donations for numerous charities, including the Rhode Island Red Cross Hurricane Katrina relief fund, local food banks, the Seamen’s Church Institute, the Newport Harbormaster’s Emergency Equipment Fund, local public high school sailing clubs as well as emergency assistance to many active-duty families and military veterans. This year there is a new cause, prompted by the
first-hand reports of the utter devastation in Grand Bahama, Abaco and the smaller cays. ‘Our friends in the Bahamas are in dire need in the wake of Hurricane Dorian and will be our primary focus at this year’s regatta,’ said co-founder Scott Murray. ‘We ask all sailors to participate for a sail around Jamestown Island but also to remem- ber that this is to raise money to help others in great need.’ The timing of this effort will also resonate with those who are
packing up soon to migrate south to Florida and the Caribbean for their winter racing. The first major series is the Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) which has been revitalised from its roots as a premier series of races around Florida and the Bahamas in the 1970s and ’80s to be a more modern series of shorter offshore races on the east coast. Starts in Miami and Ft Lauderdale will go to finishes in Nassau in November, Palm Beach in December, Key West in January and a new race this season to Eleuthera in March. This 295-mile race to the Cape Eleuthera Resort and Marina,
over an interesting course that winds through the islands, presents a new destination for those interested in racing closer to home than in the Caribbean 1,000 miles further south and east. Fortunately Eleuthera and Nassau escaped any major damage from Dorian, so both are ready to accept visiting raceboats and their crews. All but the Palm Beach race in this series also share a common
Notice of Race, a good way to keep entry requirements and formats uniform and also allowing the determination of an overall winner of what’s been named the Islands in the Stream series. There are worse ways to spend ‘winter’ but spare a thought for
those whose winter and summer will be spent working ferociously to rebuild communities... communities which have always provided the warmest of welcomes to thousands of visiting yachtsmen.
SEAHORSE 13
NIDAY/ALAMY
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