Road to the 2022 12 Metre Worlds

The 2021 12 Metre North American Championship, scheduled for September 23-25, will provide a steppingstone for teams preparing for the 2022 12 Metre World Championship to be held at the same venue in Newport, RI.

“We are combining what traditionally has been four divisions into two classes (for scoring purposes),” said Jack LeFort (Jamestown, R.I.), who serves as Commodore of the 12 Metre Yacht Club and skippers Challenge XII (KA-10), which won the 12 Metre North Americans in 2018 as well as the 2019 12 Metre Worlds.

“The classes are Class 1 for Grand Prix and Modern and Class 2 for Traditional and Vintage, which should add to the excitement and quality of racing.”

Joining Challenge XII in Class 1 will be Enterprise (US-27), skippered by Peter Askew (Baltimore, Md.) and New Zealand (KZ-3), skippered by Gunther Buerman (Highland Beach, Fla./Newport, R.I.).

Sailing in Class 2 will be American Eagle (US-21), skippered by Alex Valcic (Nantucket, Mass/New York, N.Y.), 1958 America’s Cup winner and 2019 World Champion Columbia (US-16), skippered by Kevin Hegarty (Newport, R.I.), Nefertiti (US-19), skippered by Jack Klinck (Concord, Mass.), Onawa (US-6), skippered by Chris Culver (Vero Beach, Fla./Newport, R.I.), and 1962 America’s Cup winner Weatherly (US-17), skippered by Steve Eddleston (Bristol, R.I.)

Teams will complete six races over three days and sail on Narragansett Bay and/or Rhode Island Sound.

Following the North Americans, Classes 1 and 2 will start together in the Harry Anderson Memorial Race on September 26 as a tribute to Anderson who passed away at age 98 and had devoted his life to racing and its rules and had a great hand in the development of the 12 Metre Class.

The 12 Metres, approximately 70 feet in length, competed for the America’s Cup between the years of 1958 to 1987.

Vantage points for the Harry H. Memorial Pursuit Race, which starts at 11:00am, will include the lawn at Castle Hill, where the Race Committee will sight a start and finish line for the fleet. After racing, the fleet will moor and “dress ship” off the New York Yacht Club in Newport Harbor (approximately 2:30pm).

The 12 Metres also can be viewed dockside at Sail Newport on September 25 (after 3:30 pm) when they will gather there for the 12 Metre North American awards celebration and on September 26 (prior to 11:00 am) before they depart from Sail Newport for the Memorial Race.

Details: https://12myc.org/
Questions: hersam@sbcglobal.net

Source: Media Pro