NEW YORK YACHT CLUB WINS 2014 HINMAN MASTERS TEAM RACE
New York Yacht Club Wins 2014 Hinman Masters Team Race
NEWPORT, R.I. – Twelve of the country’s most competitive yacht clubs sent their best masters-level team racers to the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court in Newport, R.I., this past weekend to compete for the NYYC Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy. For the first time since 2009, the host team claimed the trophy, knocking off three-time defending champion St. Francis in both teams’ final race. For the Hinman Masters Trophy, the three skippers for each team must be older than 45 years of age, and the crew—each boat sails with a total of three or four people—must be at least 40 years of age. 
After two and a half days of non-stop racing on Narragansett Bay, the top four teams—New York 1, Noroton (Darien, Conn.), St. Francis (San Francisco), and Texas Corinthian (Kemah, Texas)—squared off in a championship round robin to determine the overall winner. Heading into the final two races just a half point separated the top three teams.
In the deciding race against St. Francis, New York Yacht Club 1—the club entered two teams in the regatta—claimed the advantage immediately after the starting gun.
“We had been losing the starts to St. Francis, who are all incredibly good off the line,” said New York Yacht Club 1 Team Captain Colin Gordon. “They were just more aggressive than us. For the final race, we tried to be a little more aggressive as a team. The current had switched and it really started to take boats over the starting line. We made the conscious decision to push them over and we got a little lucky, three of them over and only one of us. For the rest of the race it was just try not to do anything stupid.”
Second place went to the team from Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, who won all three races in the final round robin, but fell a half point short of the championship. Third was St. Francis, with Noroton in fourth.
As heated as the competition was on the water, the regatta—and team racing in general—is known for the camaraderie off the water. “The fun thing about team racing is you see the same people over and over again,” said Gordon. “The racing is fantastic, but the social side is too. They are all fierce competitors, but really great guys. It’s nice when you beat someone you really respect.”
The team racing season at the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court concludes next weekend with the Grandmasters Championship.
