Lightning Strikes at Baldwin Cup

Eleven teams from the East and West coasts — plus one from across the Pond — competed in the revived Baldwin Cup Team Race regatta at Newport Harbor Yacht Club on March 31-April 2. The event skipped 2020 and 2021 due to you-know-what.

Team racing pits a team of four boats against another team of four boats. As in match racing, on-the-water umpires make instantaneous decisions during a team race. There is no time for the umpires to consult a rulebook or to go into long discussions of the rules. They must be very well-versed in the racing rules and of the tactics and strategies of team racing.

For the Baldwin Cup, NHYC provided a fleet of 12 Harbor 20 keelboats. A crew of two sailed each boat.

In alphabetical order, visiting teams represented Annapolis YC, MD; Bristol YC, RI; California YC, Marina del Rey; Corinthian YC, Marblehead, MA; Larchmont YC, NY; New York YC; Royal Thames YC, London, UK; St. Francis YC, San Francisco; San Diego YC; US Naval Sailing Association, Annapolis, MD. Hosts NHYC fielded two teams, Thunder and Lightning.

NHYC won their seventh consecutive Baldwin Cup title when they beat SDYC in this year’s finals.

StFYC emerged from the Stage 1 qualifying rounds as the top-ranked team. SDYC topped the rankings in the Stage 2 qualifying rounds. They and the two NHYC teams plus Royal Thames YC, CYC and NYYC continued on to the knockout rounds. In the final, NHYC Lightning defeated SDYC, with NHYC Thunder rounding out the podium.

The winning team consisted of Brian Bissell/Perry Bissell, Colin Voigt/Andrew Person, Jake LaDow/Kayla LaDow, and Alex Curtiss/Robert Kinney. For complete results, see https://baldwincup.com/results.