The Cumberland Cup Match Report 2023
The long awaited RTYC Sonars landed at Queen Mary reservoir just in time for the Cumberland Cup which welcomed teams from the USA, Australia and continental Europe for a great mix of high-quality 2v2 team racing, and excellent social events spanning four days in London.
Proceedings kicked off at the club on Wednesday night with welcome drinks and a few words from Jenn (the R.O.) and Rear Commodore Sailing, John Reading for Royal Thames. It was great to see so many teams at the Club and hear from those who’d be training that day, for the Sonars inaugural trip on the water.
Thursday (first day of racing) was sadly hostage to the weather and the decision was made to abandon racing for the day and come back tomorrow hoping for more.
This took us all back to the city for a brilliantly organised drinks reception at the Houses of Parliament. A big thank you to the Royal Thames members Lord and Lady Ashcombe who kindly made this possible, we know how much everyone enjoyed this very special experience.
Friday brought a short wait for wind, but it soon filled in, and we got out on the water to start the round robin series. A competitive round of racing saw New York Yacht Club emerge at the top, only dropping one race (8 wins) over the series. They were closely followed by Newport Harbor and St Francis on 7 wins a piece, with Royal Thames and Eastern both on 6 wins, rounding out the top half. The competition was split into gold and silver fleets for the final day’s racing.
Saturday’s racing was extremely competitive, and the wind had increased to a solid 12+ knots in the gusts. Racing progressed well through the gold and silver round robins which would decide which teams would advance to the knockout stages.
Royal Thames ended the gold fleet in 2nd, and went into the semi-finals against St Francis, winning 2-0. Newport Harbor also won their semi-final 2-0 against Eastern YC and met RTYC in The Cumberland Cup final, for a first to two wins.
Royal Thames lost the first race of the finals following a red flag umpire call on the finish line, thus moving into a must win scenario for the hosts thereafter. Whilst in the process of drawing the scorecard even with a commanding lead in race two, Newport Harbor’s rudder strap took a leave of absence, and the race was abandoned for a re-sail. Race three was a success for Royal Thames, moving the competition to its final chapter.
In the deciding race, RTYC kept control around the windward mark, with Murray Hampshire’s boat slowing the race down to bring Andy Cornah’s boat back into the race. Compression by Newport on the reach drew them back in and led to Andy being taken out wide on the run and Murray slowing down to keep everyone together. After a well-managed final reach, it was then just a case of keeping the locks on for the final beat to the end - where RTYC secured victory! Full credit must go to Newport Harbor for making it a great contest right to the end.
Back in Knightsbridge, the club put on an excellent dinner as we closed out the 2023 Cumberland Cup. A great evening to celebrate Royal Thames’ success and say thank you to those who made the event possible.
This event would not have been possible without a lot of time and effort from all those involved. A massive thank you to: the Club for their support of the team at this event; all the staff for hosting multiple great events there over the event; the members who so kindly made the Houses of Parliament event possible; the bosuns (Freddie and Simon) who worked tirelessly to get the Sonars ready and fixed when issues arose; Andy Cornah for captaining the team and delivering a heartfelt acceptance speech; Jon Reading and the wider Flags for their support down at the Club; the competitors who provided great racing; the umpires, rib drivers and volunteers for keeping the event running smoothly; and finally (and with all due respect to those before, most importantly) Jenn Lancaster who worked tirelessly to organise and deliver The Cumberland Cup 2023 - thank you for everything Jenn.
Overall Positions;
1st Royal Thames Yacht Club (GBR)
2nd Newport Harbor YC (USA)
3rd St Francis YC (USA)
4th Eastern YC (USA)
5th New York YC (USA)
6th Yale Corinthian YC (USA)
7th Bayerischer (GER)
8th Royal Perth (AUS)
9th Gamla Stan (SWE)
10th Southern YC (USA)
Sailing for RTYC was – Andy Cornah (Capt), Guy Brearey, Emily Whiltshire, Si Morris, Murray Hampshire, Jack Hanslope, Tom Williams, Sammie Evans