New Era for Canada’s Cup

Canada’s Cup

The Canada’s Cup, the Great Lakes premier match racing trophy, has been contested 24 times between USA and Canada since the first event in 1896. USA holds the edge, 13 to 11, with teams competing in a wide range of classes over that span.

To celebrate the history, tradition and competitiveness of the Canada’s Cup, the Canada’s Cup Committee – chaired by Allan Megarry and Past Commodore Jamie Keating, and the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) – has developed a new vision for the event beginning in 2020: a bi-annual event with three cycles to 2024 with all events being hosted at the RCYC.

Yacht clubs from the Great Lakes will be invited to an American and Canadian Defender/Challenger elimination series with one Defender and one Challenger competing for the Canada’s Cup in September 2020, 2022 and 2024. The intent is to provide all Great Lakes’ yacht Clubs the opportunity to participate in what is considered the premier event in Canadian big boat sailing.

“The RCYC, as the custodian of the Canada’s Cup, is excited with this new vision that offers our Club a stellar long-term signature event platform to celebrate the Cup’s history and additional events that celebrate our Veterans, our youth, our heritage and our sport with widespread participation of all Great Lakes yacht clubs,” said Chris Mitchele, Commodore, RCYC.

The Canada’s Cup Committee has selected the NYYC Melges IC37 as the platform for this vision. Building on the success of the NYYC Invitational Cups from 2009 to 2017, New York Yacht Club (NYYC) initiated the selection of a replacement for the Swan 42 in 2016. Their selection committee settled on the Mills designed IC37, whose Class Association was developed with partner Melges.

“The time had come for a strict one-design class of this size, designed and built to accommodate a wide spectrum of crew skills, targeting Corinthian sailors of the world,” said Harry Melges. “We are dedicated to enriching all areas of one-design racing, including youth, Corinthian, women, and Grand Prix style racing.”

Megarry sees this as a once in a generation opportunity. “We will be able to capitalize on utilizing a boat perfectly suited to Great Lakes sailing, and will be heavily supported and promoted south of the border given the prominence of the NYYC Invitational Cup. Early interest in the boat is considerable so there is cause for optimism.”

With this new plan, three prominent events over six years will provide potential owners and sponsors with high-level, competitive match racing with numerous fleet racing opportunities in the off years hosted by the NYYC. Stay tuned for more details … this is just the beginning of a new era for the Canada’s Cup.