On June 9 our club hosted the 38^th running of Stamford’s Mayor’s Cup Race. A special aspect of this race is that it is a qualifier for the annual championship of the Long Island Sound Yacht Racing Association, which has over 65 member clubs. I want to tell you about the race, the party after the race, and the tremendous effort that preceded the race and the party.

 The race had 20 registrants. Two did not start, possibly because the first part of the day was rainy. The 18 starters included eight very fast spinnaker boats and, in two classes, ten non-spinnaker boats of all speeds. The current was flooding (running west) and the wind was blowing from the west. The course board on our signal boat, Rob Mould’s My Girl, told the spinnaker boats to race windward, from the Cows buoy to Gong 1 at Little Captain Island Reef in Greenwich, “twice around.” Non-spinnaker boats were told to sail the shorter windward distance to Nun 34 near Tod’s Point, twice around. The wind, predicted to be about 14 knots, was more often nearly twice that fast. Boats that deployed full mainsails and foresails, in reliance on the erroneous forecast, were sailing on their sides, in fear of expensive sails suddenly ripping to shreds. The downwind ride is always more comfortable. The sails were full and we were moving with the waves, often surfing. It almost justified the upwind slog.

 Back on the signal boat, the Race Committee decided we had been tortured enough on our first time around, so they hoisted the “C” flag, signifying a Change of course, and sent the fleet to and from Gong 1 near the Stamford Lighthouse for the second round. That round was shorter, but the wind near the gong was the fastest of the day, so it was not easy.

 Winner of the Spinnaker class was Unplugged, skippered by Chris Malloy, an HYC member. Winner of the first Non-spinnaker Class was Roo, skippered by Gary Tarnoff of the Breakwater Irregulars. Winning the second Non-spinnaker class was Liberty, skippered by Leonard Shavel of Indian Harbor YC. We’re proud of our local winners, but we’re also proud that our race included excellent sailors from—in addition to clubs already mentioned—Storm Trysail, Riverside, New York, and Ponus. This early summer event, which was impacted by Covid a few years ago, is regaining its momentum!

 Thanks to our Principal Race Official, Chris Miller, his assistants, Chris and Alison; our auxiliary boat operators, Claude Major, John Varbero and Rob Lombardo; our photographer, Stanley Jesudovich, and our drone videographer, Ben Moss. A video composition of their work is posted on the club’s YouTube channel here: Mayor’s Cup 2024 – Stamford, CT (youtube.com).

Results:

*   Mayor’s Cup winner

** City of Stamford Cup winner

To view detailed results, please click on https://yachtscoring.com/event_results_detail.cfm?Race_Number=1&eID=16681

For further information, please contact [email protected]

Race video is posted on HYC and can be viewed on YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUQIowHFRh0

2024 Photo Gallery

Award ceremony