Bermuda complete clean sweep on Great Sound

Colin Thompson

Published Oct 15, 2018 at 8:00 am (Updated Oct 14, 2018 at 10:32 pm)

Bermuda retained the Amorita Cup after recording a clean sweep over their counterparts from the United States in the Great Sound at the weekend.

The host nation, led by captain Patrick Cooper, won the best of seven-team series, which showcased the International One Design classic racing sloop, 4-0 with races to spare.

Bermuda won the opening three races contested just north of the former US Naval Annex on Saturday in breezy conditions to get their title defence off to a solid start.

“It was breezy so you had to keep your wits about you and hats off to the local team who sailed very well,” Craig Davis, the race officer, said.

“The best race of the entire regatta was the third race. There was lot of team racing tactics going on and was great to see.”

The opening day of the regatta did not go without incident as American team-mates Elliott Wisler and Jennifer Miller collided behind the line in the pre-start of the second race.

“Unfortunately we had a collision between two of our visiting yachts and had to switch out to a spare boat and do a master repair overnight,” Davis said. “But we had a great team of people who pulled it all together and that boat was out racing again today.”

The wind shifted after a weather front passed by overnight, forcing the race committee to move the course across the Great Sound off of Spanish Point yesterday.

Bermuda started the day’s racing in 10 to 15 knot breeze, with gusts up to 22 as rain squalls passed over the course, on match point and finished the job in a hurry after winning the fourth race to complete the sweep.

Kevin Horsfield and Ray DeSilva, the Bermuda IOD fleet president, were the helmsmen of Bermuda’s remaining two teams that competed in the three boats versus three format.

With plenty of time to spare, the race committee decided to hold a fleet race which local helmsman Martin Siese, who had crewed for Cooper during the team racing event, won to maintain the status quo.

The Amorita Cup is one of the oldest team racing trophies in existence having first been contested in 1939 between the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and a United States team, with the race created specifically for the then new IOD class. This year marked the first time the regatta has been held since 2004.

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