The 2017 Vineyard Cup was among the most eventful in 12 years, thanks to torrential rains on opening day, high winds, and three dismastings during the competition.
Winners for various classes are as follows: Santana, Wendy Schmidt, for the Classic Division; Providence, Stuart Halpert, for PHRF Non-Spinnaker Class 1; Encore, Don Cohan, for PHRF Non-Spinnaker Class 2; Après, Steve Besse, for PHRF Spinnaker.
The Vineyard Cup is put on by Sail MV, the Vineyard’s local community sailing program. The Vineyard Cup regatta now has more than 100 boats participating, mostly from around New England. The Vineyard Cup is a three-day sailing event with multiple classes of boats and races courses run by a team of Sail MV staff and volunteers, in addition to activities onshore for sailors and the local community, held on the lawn of the future home of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
The first day of the regatta, Friday, races were abandoned due to the severe rainstorms that drenched the Island. Many sailors were prepared to head out in the heavy rains, but the chance of severe weather called an end to the racing.
The weather cleared for racing on Saturday, with all fleets getting off to a good start; PHRF, classic, and catboats were on Vineyard Sound.
Island resident Jim Pringle, in his 64-year-old Myfanwy, was dismasted off Cape Poge, but Mr. Pringle, a seasoned sailor, was able to contain the mast and rigging and safely motor back to port.
The last day of the regatta, Sunday, provided strong southwesterly winds for the pursuit race. A pursuit race is when each yacht has a timed start. The boat rating, which is determined by size and speed, determines what time the boat starts. The most exciting thing about a pursuit race is that boats with diverse ratings compete.
Strong winds on Sunday caused two more dismastings, which is when the mast, or “stick” as sailors call it, breaks and usually falls. Luckily, no one was hurt when the boats were dismasted. Each of the boats had seasoned skippers and crews. Sailing is considered a Corinthian sport, in that people race for a trophy and not money. The true Corinthian spirit was in play, as other racers abandoned the race in order to provide assistance. Sophie was dismasted due to a rigging failure, just above the first spreader. The fine seamanship and quick reactions of the sailing team averted any mishaps. Sophie still finished fourth in her division. Don Cohan, on his Etchell, Encore, was also dismasted, but all ended well as Encore still won the PHRF Non-Spinnaker Class 2 division. Mr. Cohan, a bronze medalist at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, started a perpetual trophy for the Vineyard Cup this year.
For the rest of the fleet, the winds provided for a great day of yachting. The perpetual trophy for the Classic Division, the Dana Family Cup, again went to Santana, owned by Wendy Schmidt. Mrs. Schmidt is also the co-founder of 11th Hour Racing, which promotes clean oceans and regattas like the Vineyard Cup.