US wins in the Solent

The Royal Thames YC's Victoria Scott reports from the British America Cup team racing

If there is one thing Americans are good at, it’s how to make a Sonar go fast. At the prize-giving of the of the oldest team racing trophy in the world, the British American Cup, the captain of Team USA claimed that training had begun as soon as the last event finished back in 2001 - and it showed.

Wednesday 17th September saw the first start of the fourteenth match in the fourth series of a four-boat team racing Cup that has been raced for since 1921. Initially raced in Six Metres, the cup had a bucket-load of prestige attached to it in the 20s and, with such names as Ian Walker and Ben Ainslie on past GBR crew lists, none of that prestige has gone. In the world of team-racing it is definitely considered worth fighting for. And fight they did. Team captains Dean Brenner (USA) and Owen Modral (GBR) both fielded teams that promised on paper to produce some exciting racing although no-one had guessed it would all come down to the final race of the event.

Day 1 dawned and due to ‘Solent fog’, the Sonars could not even be seen, let alone sailed but as the cloud lifted and an 8 knot breeze settled in Osborne Bay, the team racing began. The count down to race one saw the American boats covering the British like a rash that just would not go away. No matter what move they made, or tactic they employed, once they had tacked back or gybed away, another American boat was their case. The first beat demonstrated with pretty impressive clarity the skill American team-racers have in making Sonars go faster. Even when presented with British team racing tactics, they appeared to just sail around the obstacle and race off towards the next mark.

It was already being termed ‘a bad day in the office’ for the British when it suddenly got a whole lot worse as bowman Simon Nadine caught his thumb leaving it very badly damaged. After being whisked ashore by RIB to an awaiting ambulance, the teams bobbed in the bay for over an hour waiting for a replacement crew member. It can safely be said that after a lengthy delay and with minds now focused on whether team-mate Simon would get to keep his thumb, the British were just not on the ball. With race 1 going the way of the Americans, races 2,3 and 4 neatly followed suit. So 4-0 to the Americans, and with just 12 races scheduled (thus the first to 7 wins), a dejected Owen and his team retired for some hard talking.

Day two and the event organisers from the Royal Thames YC and Royal Yacht Squadron were hesitantly preparing to plan a day of “fun, Cowes-based activities” for the third day should the US team take the first three races in the style they had done the day before. Races 1 to 4 had been won by the Americans with a clear 10 point margin virtually every time so the future looked bleak.

To be frank, any other team who had glimpsed the embarrassing prospect of a walk-over might have just given up. Owen Modral and his crew may have had the same names, but it was a totally different set of sailors who led the boats out to Osborne Bay to start race 5. They weren’t just firing on all cylinders– the whole armoury was ready to blow. The helms - Paul Campbell-James, Ian Williams, Ricky Tagg and Owen Modral - returned with a vengeance and team-raced superbly. As the races were ticked off, the combinations just got better for the British who finished day 2 on a 1-2-3-8 combination having only dropped one race which had been tied on 18 points but, with a British boat taking line honours, the race went the way of the Americans. The score now stood at 5-3 to the US team and sighs of relief were heard from very audibly from both sailors and organisers.

The final day and the question on everyone’s lips was what sort of form would be British be in? Performance to date had been very Jekyll and Hyde with some amazing team racing on day 2 and some not so impressive performances on day 1. Well, as suspected at this level, the British pulled out all the stops and sailed what was generally considered text-book team-racing. Their boat speed was top level and their long night of discussing tactics earlier in the week certainly paid off as they moved the Americans into tight corners and forced penalty turns. Race 9 and 10 went comfortably to the British with race 10 being won by a combination of 1-2-3-6 and a huge margin of 12 points. So, 2 more races to play for and the score-board was level at 5-5.

By race 11, the race course was littered with spectator boats and with warnings issued to keep wash to a minimum, the tension was nothing short of palatable. It would hardly have been appropriate to yell out “come on you Brits” on a boat packed with Americans but it was sorely tempting. The penultimate race went the way of the British in what has to have been some of the best team-racing seen in a long time and by a margin of just 2 points. 6-5 to the British and it was all to race for. A British win in the final race would see the cup stay on English soil and an American win, bringing the score to 6-6, would result in an American win on the basis that they won the final race of the event.

Well, the American team had reportedly been practising since the summer of 2001 for this and they wanted it - really badly. If the reports of their practice sessions are true then it paid off in huge quantities as, in the final hour, they turned up the power and produced some team-racing that was next to nothing. Pre-start and they were resembling that ‘rash’ the British had experienced on day 1 producing some great tactics to get the positions they wanted. From seemingly nowhere, they made the boats scream up the first beat leaving some rather startled Brits to up the pace behind them. After the first lap the Americans held optimum position in 2-3-4-5 place. All they had to do was sail fast and stay out of trouble. And sail fast they did as they crossed the finish in a great position of 1-2-3-6 with an enormous points margin of 14.

With the Stars and Stripes flying from the backstays and with the Committee Boat flying code flags U, S and A, the fleet headed back to Cowes after what has to have been the closest team-racing seen in a long time. Full credit must be given to Owen Modral and his team for a brilliant come-back and for sailing to such a high standard. 2005 will see the next match over in Seawanhaka YC and the Americans had better be on their toes – “Big O” as he was knick-named by the Yanks, will not take to loosing lightly.

Results:

Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	Tot
	O	O	O	O	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	6
GBR
	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	6
USA

Notes: WINNING TEAM:- USA – tied score SI 10.2.2 “If both teams have the same number of series points the winner shall be the team that won the last race sailed”.