The crew from the Texas Corinthian Yacht Club sails to victory during Grandmasters Team Race on Narragansett Bay. The host, New York Yacht Club, lost in the finals.
A week after the team for the New York Yacht Club captured the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy for the first time in eight years, its crew competing for the Grandmasters trophy fell just short.
The yacht club based in Newport, with Jamestown residents Cory and Mark Sertl on the team, finished second to the defending champion, Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, during the three-day regatta that ended Sunday. Competing on Narragansett Bay in the New York Yacht Club’s fleet of Sonars, skippers must be at least 60 years old with crew members no younger than 50.
Following an internal review of the first two days of the three-day regatta, the Texas team from Kemah started the final day of the regatta with a renewed sense of purpose. The result was an emphatic 3-0 win in the finals to complete a successful defense of the team race.
“What we weren’t doing well the first two days was getting off the line,” said Gerard Coleman, skipper and team captain for Texas Corinthian. “So, we identified some things that we have control over. For example, we tried to be the first ones on the water and do our homework pre-start, like all the ranges and laylines. We had to remind ourselves that all the competitors were super talented and we had to respect every competitor out there.”
Through the first two days of the regatta, the team representing the host team in Newport was the strongest on the water, winning six of eight races in the first round-robin and then sweeping all eight races in the second round-robin. Texas Corinthian finished the double round-robin 12-4.
In the semifinals, New York Yacht Club won the first two races, then dropped a pair to Larchmont Yacht Club (N.Y.) to force a winner-take-all final race. The situation was identical in the other semifinal where Texas Corinthian jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Noroton Yacht Club (Connecticut) charged back with two wins to tie the series and force a deciding fifth race. The teams from Newport and Kemah prevailed in the semis before Texas swept the host team in the finals.
“The enthusiasm for sailing has gone way up because of team racing,” Coleman said. “When we show up for a practice, it’s kind of like a pick-up baseball game: Let’s just make the teams even and go out and practice. Everybody now feels more welcome than with the pecking order in a fleet-race practice or regatta, where you know who’s first and second, and last. This brings everybody together.”
