Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup day 2: Canadians close in on leaders
The 2025 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup opened in Newport with three fiercely contested races on Rhode Island Sound. Defending champions San Diego Yacht Club set the early pace with back-to-back wins, while Royal Hong Kong and Royal Canadian proved strong challengers. Australia’s Royal Prince Alfred showed promise with their young crew, even as Vancouver and Ilhabela suffered early setbacks. With 20 teams from 12 nations and 12 races scheduled, the regatta is already living up to its reputation for drama, skill, and close-fought competition.
Canadians strike back
Day 2 shifted the fleet inside Narragansett Bay, where conditions presented a stark contrast to the opening test offshore. Flat water, strong current and shifty 14–16 knot breezes replaced the punchy 15-knot easterly and rolling six-foot seas of day one. It proved to be a thinking sailor’s day, rewarding teams that adapted quickly to the changes.
Royal Canadian Yacht Club rose to the challenge. With a 2-3-5 scoreline, the Canadians produced the most economical performance of the day, gaining 1 point on the leaders and pulling 10 clear of the chasing pack. Sitting second overall on 25 points, they are now firmly in contention.
“It was an interesting day,” said Scott Collinson, the team’s main trimmer. “We’d done a lot of homework on that course. We really wanted to make sure that we understood what we thought was going to happen and it played out. Having conviction about what the current was doing and what the wind was doing was very important. And then we were able to get off the line fairly well. One start was amazing; the other two were pretty good and we made them work. We used our boatspeed to find our way to the top.”
San Diego stay on top
San Diego Yacht Club still wear the yellow spinnaker as regatta leaders, but their position looks less assured. After a blistering first day, they opened day two with another race win, then followed with a second before faltering to an eighth. That left them with 20 points after six races, just five ahead of the Canadians.
Royal Thames rebound
Royal Thames Yacht Club vaulted into third overall on 35 points thanks to a dramatic race win in the day’s final heat. After mixed results earlier in the regatta, the British crew showed their pedigree, reminding the fleet why they are past Invitational Cup finalists. With half the series still ahead, their 2.5-point cushion over fourth-placed Vancouver is tight and could prove crucial.
Royal Vancouver Yacht Club enjoyed a reasonably solid day of their own, adding a third in their last race to steady results that now place them fourth overall on 37.5 points, just 2.5 points behind Thames, after yesterday’s redress adjustments.
Hong Kong slip back
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, the model of consistency on day one, saw their grip on second overall slip away. A 3-20-4 sequence left them on 38 points (a mere .5 behind Thames), falling to fifth. For a team that had impressed with downwind speed and smart tactical calls, the 20th place in Race 5 was a costly stumble.
Tactician Duncan Gregor, speaking after day one, had praised their ability to recover from poor hoists and messy jibes. But day two’s mistakes proved harder to shake off. With six races still to sail, Hong Kong remain within striking distance, yet the margin for error is shrinking.
Japan bounce back
Among the standout stories of day two was the resurgence of the Japan Sailing Federation team. After what could only be described as a disastrous opening day, the Japanese found form with a fourth and a race win in Race 5. Although a 14th in Race 6 tempered their comeback, team principal Masuhiro Bamba accepted the daily prize with pride. Their win lifted spirits across the dock and demonstrated how quickly fortunes can turn in this tightly matched fleet.
Depth across the fleet
Elsewhere, Royal Swedish Yacht Club continued their steady campaign. With 11-2-5-7-9-6, they sit sixth overall on 40 points. Skipper Johanna Sommarlund credited their downwind pace as the key to climbing through the fleet. “I really like the surfy, choppy stuff that we had today on the downwind,” said Sommarlund, who was a top dinghy sailor in her youth. “I think we caught up with two boats every downwind, so that was really good for us. The upwinds are tricky. So that’s something that we will really have to work on, just fine tune the jib, fine tune the main. I found that the upwinds were much trickier than the downwinds.”
Royal Cork Yacht Club of Ireland also impressed, finishing the day with a second to move into eighth overall on 49 points. New York Yacht Club, sailing on home waters, are seventh on 47 points. Australia’s Royal Prince Alfred, with one of the youngest squads in the regatta, sit 13th on 72.
At the back of the pack, South America’s Ilhabela and Italy’s Italiano, along with Itchenor from the UK, continue to struggle to break free of the bottom five.
Halfway point
With six of the scheduled twelve races complete, the Invitational Cup is finely balanced. San Diego lead on 20 points, Royal Canadian are second with 25, and Royal Thames hold third with 35. Vancouver and Hong Kong round out the top five.
For now, the defending champions remain favourites, but the momentum appears to be swinging north to the Canadians. Tomorrow’s racing will again be held in Narragansett Bay, with the first warning scheduled for 1030 EDT. If the first two days are any indication, the regatta promises more twists before the Cup is decided on Saturday.
