Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup: Marcus Eagan's Southern YC team enjoys an eight-point lead going in
NEWPORT, RI – Racing has just concluded on Narragansett Bay north of the Newport Bridge for Day 4 of the Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup. Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (AUS, Sydney, Guido Belgiorno-Nettis skipper) won the day with a 3-1 scoreline, but closed the gap to leader Southern YC (USA, New Orleans, Marcus Eagan skipper) by only one point. Again today SYC stayed strong with scores of 2-3.
In tomorrow's final race RSYS has to put fully seven boats between themselves and SYC to win in the 12-race, 14-team no-throw out series. That's a big ask when you consider Southern has not finished below 8th in any race and has managed to finish in the top three in nine out of eleven races so far – an amazing achievement in this tough fleet, and even after several bad starts including one today.
NYYC's Facebook Live coverage was much improved today, with our longtime friend Ken Read, AC commentator and President of North Sails, joining Tucker Thompson and Andy Green. It's a three-camera show with a well-flown drone-cam, a chase-boat cam, and a cover camera on the commentators who are afloat on Heidi and Steve Benjamin's powerboat. The graphics are good and improving. The only flaw was that at times the audio from the commentary boat was dodgy. But as Kenny said at the bottom of the show, a Facebook Live feed is not intended to be an AC-quality network broadcast that costs tens of millions to produce. Regardless, it is intended to be informal, informative and fun, and I am sure the families and friends of the sailors and competing yacht clubs around the world are enjoying the live feed very much, as is your Ed.
Tune in tomorrow for the final race scheduled to begin at 1100 EDT, unless, like today, there is another postponement – in which case I am sure they will come on live for a few minutes and keep everyone posted on the new starting time.
You can watch a replay of today's racing, and tune in for tomorrow's live coverage on the regatta Facebook page.
Screenshots from NYYC's nice Facebook Live feed of today's racing. Middle image from the drone-cam is Royal Sydney YS (center right) just after winning Race 11. NYYC's team (blue boat near the pin) had their best day, finishing second in Race 11 after a 4th in Race 10, and Southern YC's team (left under the graphics) managed another top-three finish in Race 11 despite a lousy start. Final race is on Saturday, scheduled start 1100 EDT.