Patience required at Cumberland Cup

London, UK (May 3, 2014) – A slow Northerly crept across the reservoir on Saturday morning, with gusts peaking at 9kts, but largely the anemometer read 0 on the third day of the Cumberland Cup. The eight teams were relieved to see some sunshine, and took the opportunity to bask in the sun and relax.

Royal Thames Yacht Club Vice Commodore Michael Gardner has been observing today’s challenging conditions, “Year on year, the standard of this event continues to rise. This event is clearly growing in importance, and there is no doubt that the quality of racing is improving each time, which shows that teams are taking it more seriously and becoming more competitive, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, in particular, have showed great improvement over the years.”

For this prestigious 2 on 2 team racing event, RTYC crept up to a level playing field with YCCS, in race 23, with both teams on 6 wins, so it is looking likely, these two teams will feature in the final.

Sam Maxfield, of RTYC commented, “After a fabulous night last night in the House of Commons, the team have sailed well today, and we have snuck in line with the Italian team, we still have a long way to go though, and we will keep trying to take each race at its own merit.”

With the breeze due to turn from a Northerly into a Southerly before dropping off completely, the race committee was keen to squeeze in as many as possible. A number of races started, but were then abandoned throughout the day.

Luckily, through a great deal of patience, a 28 race cycle was completed, before PRO Gill Smith eventually succumbed to fickle breeze, and was forced to abandon the racing. She commented, “It was not an easy day for anyone on the water, the competitors, racers and umpires were all tested by the challenging, light and frustrating conditions. I have made the executive decision to retire to the bar.”

With more breeze due for Sunday, everyone involved is hopeful that it will be possible to fit in some more races and the finals.

Competing teams
Yacht Club Costa Smeralda
Royal Thames Yacht Club
New York Yacht Club
Easter Yacht Club
Yale Corinthian
Cumberland
Royal Perth Yacht Club
Royal Southern Yacht Club

Source: Event media