Team Revolver, comprising Rachel Bower, Juliet Costanzo, Sarah Parker, Hugo Butterworth, Josh Dawson, Antony Hawke, Malcolm Parker, Chris Way and Michael Ritchie has just returned from the New York Yacht Club’s 171st Regatta as their first hit out against the IC37 fleet in Newport Rhode Island.
Having trained hard on ‘Revolver’ over the past 6 months, the team were excited to get hold of their chartered IC37 two days prior to the regatta, to get a feel for how she handled. The condition of the boat was impeccable albeit we didn’t have the benefit of brand new sails that most of the other competitors did.
We realised that Revolver, the Ritchie38 we train on in Sydney, is a trickier and more critical boat to sail, so that gave us a small sense of comfort knowing that our boat handling might be in check. Much of the fleet were out practicing and we quickly figured out modes and idiosyncrasies giving us lane and boat speed similarities with other boats.
Day One of racing was the Around The Island Race – the 40 nm passage race around Conanicut Island. The breeze was 5 to13 knots and it was a stunning day to get to know the waterway. We held 3rd place for the majority of the four hour race only to be caught up in a ‘tricky’ rounding on the last mark that saw us lose four places, seeing us finish with a respectable 7th – a result that gave us confidence we could be in the mix.
Day Two was the start of the six Windward Return Short Course races. We headed out to sea, to the exact race course where Australia 2 won the 1983 America’s Cup. Hallowed waters indeed. We were met with a cold, wet and bumpy 12 to 18 knots of northerly breeze with the fleet all rearing to go. Our first start was a little tentative, but saw us claw back to 15th. The second race an 8th and finishing the day with a 9th on a final leg that took us all the way back into Newport.
Day Three we got more into step with the fleet and how the boat was responding. We put ourselves in better positions with three solid races, coming out strong, leading the fleet for the first lap of Race Four, and placing 4th. Wind range was 4 to12 knots and still the bump from the previous day. Race Two we managed to make up ten places on one down wind which was incredibly satisfying.
We ended up 10th overall in a fleet of 23 IC37s and we are currently in 3rd position overall in the Corinthian standings. We took away lots of work-ons but we felt relieved that if we get it right, we can be in the hunt.
We all know the history of the New York Yacht Club and it sure didn’t disappoint. Just being there was incredible let alone knowing that we will be back in September to compete against crews from all around the world in the Invitational Cup.
Now back to training hard.