America’s Cup Yachts Return to Breakwater

Sailors from the Manhattan Yacht Club pulled into Sag Harbor on August 1 with a pair of 12-meter yachts to compete in the Breakwater Yacht Club’s weekly Wednesday Night Sailing Series. Known as US42 and US46, the 12-meter sailboats were built for the 1987 America’s Cup in Australia and now reside at the club in New York City, but they regularly tour East Coast yacht clubs.

Wind speeds were gusting north of 30 knots for the race last week, providing a crew from Breakwater a true sense of what it takes to sail a 12-meter yacht.

“’Yacht’ is a bit misleading, as a peek below decks reveals no mahogany, no settees, no creature comforts of any kind, but rather what looks like the interior of a boat shaped aluminum shipping container,” Gordon Ryan, who runs the race committee at Breakwater, wrote in his weekly report. “These racers up close are brutally industrial, designed and built for one thing — speed. And they did not disappoint.”

[caption id="attachment_83632" align="alignnone" width="1000"] US42 and US46 sailing in the Breakwater Yacht Club's Wednesday Night Sailing Series on August 1.[/caption]

The first yacht to finish was US46, with a crew of sailors from the Manhattan Yacht Club, as the US42, crewed by sailors from Breakwater, ripped her jib, withdrew and powered home.

The first regular to finish in Division I was Big Boat, captained by Bud Rogers, who finished with a corrected time of 1:01:59. Gossipand captains Steve and Liam Kenny were second and Gracious, captained by Dan Montero, finished third.

In Division II, Skidip!and captain Barry Browning finished first with a corrected time of 1:04:37, while Chris DiSunno led Swans’ Way to a second-place finish and George Martin sailed Ospreyto a third.