By Bob Putnam
The AYC 3-2-1 Invitational finished Sunday in a close competition, with outstanding racing skills on display throughout the day. The Royal Thames Yacht Club – the first European club to participate in the event – earned top honors.
Sunday’s easterly breeze of 8 to 10 knots prevailed for most of the day, dropping only a bit for the final couple “flights” of racing. All racing was conducted in the Bembe Beach area of the Severn River.
AYC invited six teams from among the elite sailboat racing yacht clubs in the U.S. to join the home club in this event. When AYC then added London-based Royal Thames YC to the invitation to complete the field of eight teams, the 3-2-1® took on an international aspect. The visitors from UK proved the stature of team and match racing “across the pond” is not to be taken lightly (16 wins; 5 losses).
Second place in the 3-2-1 went to Newport Harbor YC (14 wins; 6 losses). San Diego YC (12 wins; 7 loses) took third place AYC (12 wins; 8 loses) was in and out of higher places before finally slipping to fourth. The other finishes were San Francisco YC (11 wins; 9 losses), Ida Lewis YC (7 wins; 13 losses), Chicago YC (5 wins; 15 losses) and New York YC (3 wins; 17 losses).
Asked to comment on the UK team’s strong showing, one Royal Thames team member said “there’s no silver bullet” to doing well. Guy Brearey, who served as tactician in the match race phase, said the key is to recognize that the 3-2-1 challenges a variety of skills, “so we concentrate on doing all the little things well.”
Royal Thames crewmate Patrick Rigby said the team studied the format of the 3-2-1 event, and set about “deciding what matters most in each of the three racing disciplines, then focused on getting those things right.” Throughout the event, the Royal Thames team exhibited a quiet confidence. Their team captain was Andy Cornish; his teammates were Guy Breary, Tom Williams, Jamie Webb, Josh Adams and Patrick Rigby.
The Royal Thames team did have the advantage of strong familiarity with the specific edition of Sonars used in the 3-2-1. Their club had just received delivery of the fleet of Sonars manufactured immediately before the AYC’s recently acquired boats. There were still some adjustments to make in their techniques, they said, because they usually sail their Sonars with a crew of four, rather than either the two or three crew specified in 3-2-1 sailing.
As RC boats collected the marks and the many volunteers prepared for final awards, event co-chair Derick Lynch took a moment to reflect on the significant accomplishment of running the 3-2-1 Invitational as an international event. Lynch said there was much to be thankful for, including magnificent weather, many wonderful volunteers, and great sponsors. “Not necessarily in that order,” Lynch hastened to say.
Then he added that the competitors, themselves, deserve a lot of credit – because they make the event the amazing creation it has become.
This year, Lynch said, “the competitors demonstrated the high level of skills we anticipated in the first two days of the event. But then, with more familiarity with the 3-2-1 format and the conditions on the course during the first two days, they actually dialed up the intensity. Boat handling on the team race course was incredible; strategy and crew work in the match racing were a lot of fun to watch.”
The number of spectator boats on the course grew each of the events three days. As word continues to spread that it’s extremely exciting and fun to watch the 3-2-1 Invitational, this trend will surely grow.
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