NEWPORT, R.I. — To describe the tactical approach which led Eastern Yacht Club to the low-point score of Day 3 of the 2017 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, Ben Richardson used a word not often associated with successful big-boat sailing: reactionary. “You had to be pretty reactionary,” said Richardson, a former Laser Masters World Champion and Pan Am Games competitor. “We never went into any particular race saying, ‘Oh, you’ve got to go left,’ or ‘You’ve got go right.’ You had to continually adapt up the beat and see where the pressure was. There were pretty big pressure differentials and you had to connect the dots up the beat, and on the run.”

Eastern Yacht Club moved from fourth to third in the overall standings and now has a 15-point advantage over a pack of boats clumped in fourth to ninth. Southern Yacht Club finished third on the day, but only two points behind Eastern, and leads the regatta by 9 points over Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, which won two of the day’s three races.

The 2017 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup takes place September 9 to 16 at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, in Newport, R.I. Amateur sailors representing 14 yacht clubs from around the globe have converged on Newport to race in the ultimate one-design, big-boat competition. The boats and sails are provided and the rig tune is standardized across the fleet. The Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is sponsored by Rolex, Porsche, Nautor’s Swan, AIG and Helly Hansen and is being broadcast live via the web.

One of the key calls of the day came well before the first start. Principle Race Officer Ron Hopkins initially sent the fleet to the offshore course, but when the fog rolled in he reversed coursed and moved the fleet north of Gould Island, inside Narragansett Bay, where the water is flatter, the wind is a little less predictable and the racing is more frenetic.

Not surprisingly, some teams that had struggled offshore came alive on the “inside” course, including the Japan Sailing Federation, which scored a third, fifth and seventh on the day and moved from 10th to seventh in the overall standings.

“For us, the outside course was not so good,” said Yasutaka Funazawa, the skipper for the Japan Sailing Federation. “So we have to change something. We are getting better. Today was more the team working well.”

Also making the most of “moving day,” as the middle day of a long regatta is often known, was the host New York Yacht Club, which found its rhythm after a string of tough races to start the regatta and moved from 11th to sixth on the strength of a fifth and two fourths.

“I went to school at Boston University and sailed in the Charles River, so shifty conditions have always been good for me,” said tactician Brad Read. “We’re starting to get more confidence. We’ve been working really hard, out there between races we’re doing timed runs at the start. We just haven’t been very good at it [during the first six races]. So practice makes perfect, and we’re practicing really hard between races to get our time and distance right.

“Our motto going into today was: it’s the start of the fourth quarter and its 28-9,” Read added, referencing the New England Patriots’ improbable comeback last February in Super Bowl 51. “It’s just picking away, every tack is important, every jibe is important, every mark rounding is important. We’re doing the little things now and it’s making it more fun to go sailing.”

Not surprisingly, however, the teams that were really strong on the first two days, continued to shine. Great teams transcend the conditions. Southern Yacht Club and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron combined to win all three races and take four of nine podium positions today. The Australian team knocked a point off the 10-point lead Southern enjoyed in the overall standings to start the day and both boats, along with Eastern, moved further clear of the rest of the fleet.

“Two years ago we got off to a similar start,” said Richardson. “[In 2015] once we moved inside during the last few days of the regatta, we really turned a corner and came right back in it. The same thing happened today. Our starts were improved, but as everybody knows, getting away from other boats makes a huge difference.”

Richardson also noted that after six days of practice and racing, each team has found its comfort zone in the Swan 42s.

“If you give away a little bit, that’s something you’re not going to get back,” Richardson said. “We’ve all been sailing for six days, and some teams came more prepared than others. But every team is getting it down now.”

The race for first has really come down to three boats, and two of them will need some help from the current leader if they want to hoist the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup trophy on Saturday. Another strong day by Southern tomorrow may well sort out the overall podium. The most interesting racing may focus on the battle for fourth, with six teams all within 8 points of that spot. Those positions are unlikely to be decided until the final beat of the final race.

Racing for the 2017 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup will start Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m. There are three races remaining in the 12-race series. Tune in to the event Facebook page for live coverage of the regatta.

For full results: http://mailchi.mp/nyyc/experience-runs-throughout-15-strong-fleet-for-2017-rolex-nyyc-invitational-cup-570485?e=91dffca147

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Case in point is yesterday’s second race in the Swan 42 class. We led at every mark rounding, but frittered away half our lead on the final run and then watched as two boats ate us up on the final beat. We were tight, the noise level was up, and we made some uncharacteristic mistakes, culminating in a failed duck of two starboard tack boats on the layline for the finish pin. In the end both boats finished ahead of us and we took third. In most fleets third would be a great finish, but with only seven boats, third is just above mid-fleet.

I brooded down below for a good 10 minutes on the sail in. A key to this regatta is to not let those tough finishes get to you. Our fleet is so tight everyone will have a bad race, and everyone will have good races. Through four, a different boat has won every race, and a different boat has finished last in every race. But another key, as I mentioned above, is that you have to fight for every point. This regatta will be won by one or two or three points. If we find ourselves on the short end of that equation, we’ll relive moments like yesterday’s second race and grit our teeth. It’s a fine line and requires some active mental gymnastics to keep on an even keel.

After 10 minutes of personal darkness, the storm clouds began to break. There were a few reasons for this. Firstly, we found out we’d won the first race. The finish was so close, and, with our boat on the outside, we were sure we’d crossed second. That was a nice surprise. The second thing was that on the day we’d moved from being tied for last to being tied for second, one point out of first. In the hunt after two days of racing, that’s all you can ask for at this event. Finally, I channeled my friend Ian a little bit. No matter how bad the race Ian can always mine some positive nugget to celebrate: a great takedown or start, a moment of great boatspeed, a solid tactical call. And on the rare occasion that doesn’t work, he’ll always toast the experience: on the water, sailing with friends, competing against some great sailors. And that’s really the bottom line question: Win or lose, would you rather be anywhere else?

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Last year, my first attempt at the Lauderdale to Key West Race did not go well. It was memorable, but much in the way a dinner is memorable when the waiter accidentally dumps a plate of marinara in your lap. The race produced a good yarn for the magazine (in our May 2012 issue) and more than a few worthwhile lessons. But I don’t think I can really say I’ve sailed a particular distance race unless I’ve crossed the finish line, which is part of the reason I find myself in Fort Lauderdale again, on the Wednesday before Key West Race Week, getting ready for the 2013 Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race, aka the Key West Feeder Race (which I always like to point out, at 38 years old, is 12 years older than Quantum Key West Race Week.)

There’s also another reason. I’ve always wanted to do the full Key West experience. Doing the Feeder Race and then the buoy racing during Quantum Key West Race Week is about the closest we can come to the old SORC experience, albeit in a much-compressed format. By time I got into big boat sailing, that event, much revered in the sport, had been reduced to 4 days of buoy racing and had little in common with its heydey in the 70s and 80s.

Last year, I spent about 30 hours in Key West before heading out for another assignment elsewhere in the state. This year, I’m in for the full Monty, and on the same boat, Phil Lotz’ Swan 42 Arethusa, which makes the logistics quite manageable.

For the Feeder Race, it’s actually an IRC Swan 42. We’ve added a spinnaker pole, new symmetric and asymmetric kites, and a small prod. The IRC rating drops, approximately, from 1.171 to 1.159. But perhaps the biggest advantage is the ability to pole out the spinnaker and sail low downwind when the breeze is up. Our first real test of this configuration was the Storm Trysail Club’s IRC East Coast Championships in Annapolis, Md., in late October. Though the fleet was small, we had exactly the benchmark we needed, Ken Colburn’s Apparation, the reigning Swan 42 National Champion. The results were impressive. Provided the wind is in the double digits, we were able to sail the same speed and 5 to 15 degrees lower downwind. Upwind, with slightly reduced sail area, we were able to hold our own. We struggled in the distance race, but won all four buoy races, both across the line and on corrected time.

Of course that’s a small sample size. This race, and then a series of Caribbean Regattas—we’ll be racing in one-design trim during Key West Race Week—will provide a much more comprehensive test of the modifications.

The forecast has been quite variable for the race—though it’s remained light no matter the direction until a front pushes through late Thursday or early Friday with some breeze from the north. But even with light breeze, provided it’s steady, we can make some good progress down the track. As I did last year, I’ll try to post a few updates to our Facebook page. We’re rarely out of cell phone range—another quirk of this distance race—so it shouldn’t be hard to get a few videos and pictures uploaded. There’s also the race tracker, the race’s website, and its own social media.

Access_ SW‘s complete coverage of Key West._

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