Don’t take away the car keys yet

The inaugural Great Grandmasters Team Race on August 21-22 in Newport, RI proved that age is just a number as competitors aged 60 and greater battled it out in gusty conditions spurred by nearshore passage of Hurricane Erin.

The New York Yacht Club team went undefeated throughout the competition, winning all seven of its races in the round-robin series and clinching the title with a 2-0 win over Noroton Yacht Club in the finals.

“Whenever we start a regatta—and we’ve now had 4 team race regattas—it seems like we do very well and are most likely winning, but then as our good neighbors who come from other yacht clubs get into the game, they get better and it gets more difficult to win,” said George Hinman, skipper and co-captain of New York Yacht Club.

“So we had to make sure that we won this regatta. We were lucky to go 9-0 and that does not happen very often in team racing. We have a nucleus of people that have team raced for over 20 years, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Despite sporty conditions on the first day with wind speeds starting in the mid-teens and building into the low 20s with higher gusts, the great grandmasters made the most of the competition, showing up and showing out.

“I think it gave us an edge because we know how to sail in really heavy air,” said Hinman. “This is the Great Grandmasters, so you’re 60 to crew, 70 to skipper, and it’s blowing up to 25; I felt really proud of the sailors out there because they did a spectacular job. It just tells you that the old guys still want to sail.”

With the addition of the Great Grandmasters, the New York Yacht Club will now annually host five team race events each spring and summer.

“We have a lot of people who have done this for a long long time and are sort of aging out [of grandmasters racing],” said former Commodore Phil Lotz, main trimmer and tactician for New York Yacht Club. “They’re very capable sailors. This event gives people who are still interested in sailing and want to participate and have a lot of friends here an opportunity to get together and do some sailing.

“As a Club, a leader in the sport, and very committed to team racing, this was our opportunity to create a situation where they can go sailing.”

As the age minimums increase with each event, so too does the enjoyment of reconnecting with people they have sailed with and against for many years, or maybe haven’t seen for decades.

“I think that’s what it’s all about,” said event chair Scott MacLeod. “Getting all these people together that have known each other for all these years and being able to play this game out on the water but also come in and socialize and see people you haven’t seen in 20 years and reengage with them is fantastic.”

Details: https://nyyc.org/2025-nyyc-great-grandmasters-team-race

(Left to right): Vice Commodore Clare Harrington, Martha Altreuter, Chip Whipple, Lynne Whipple, Steven Wolff, Ted Moore (skipper and co-captain), Past Commodore George Hinman (skipper and co-captain, Bill Tripp (skipper), Sam Altreuter, Past Commodore Phil Lotz, Danielle Tripp and Peter Benedetto [not pictured: Doug McKeige].