From the 27th-29th July, Newport, R.I. hosted the 2017 Candy Store Cup Superyacht Edition for three days of intense racing between high performance superyachts ranging from relative newcomers to crowd favourites such as sailing yacht METEOR.
Sailing yacht BEQUIA – Winner of Class B and overall winner of the Candy Store Cup Superyacht Edition. Photo credit Billy Black
After 3 days of intense racing under varying weather conditions, sailing yacht BEQUIA was declared the overall winner and received the silver Candy Store Cup Trophy as well as the Class B prize of a glass vase filled with candy. Thursday through to Saturday produced three very different races, with winds changing from medium to light to heavy to show off the full potential of every competitor, some of which reached 30 knots.
“This is different than any other superyacht regatta in the world… It’s run by a team of people who know how this is supposed to go; the courses were really well conceived, the classes were really well conceived…They made everything better…”
Class A winner, sailing yacht ACTION. Photo credit – Billy Black
Class A winner was 37m/121ft ACTION, who faced tough competition from SUNLEIGH and RANGER the first two days until conditions proved too much for SUNLEIGH on the Saturday and the team chose not to race. A problem with the mast track caused RANGER to retire, leaving S/Y ACTION the Class A winner by default.
On the final day for Class B, sailing yacht FREYA was forced after a split mainsail, leaving BEQUIA sailing through at 25 knots to become the victors for the class.
“We had a wonderful week sailing against FREYA,” said BEQUIA’s tactician Tom Whidden at the awards party. “We’re quite different boats, but obviously the handicap rule is doing a good job, and we had some really close racing. We felt badly they had a breakdown on the last day; we were looking forward to seeing how we’d do, and I think we would have been very close.”
Class C winner, sailing yacht METEOR. Photo credit – Billy Black
Dan Meyers, who won Class C skippering his 52m/170ft schooner METEOR agreed: “The first day was a perfectly moderate day, so nobody could complain. Friday, much to our detriment, it was light and a struggle for us but kind of fun to try to keep METEOR going on the track. And Saturday was full-on. A kite up in 30 knots keeps your attention, but it was fun. We had it all!
“This is different than any other superyacht regatta in the world,” added Meyers. “It’s run by a team of people who know how this is supposed to go; the courses were really well conceived, the classes were really well conceived…They made everything better: the social events are better, the racing is better, the new Thursday-through-Saturday format is better. It’s more fun…more friendly, but they don’t sacrifice on the sailing.”
Results:
Class A:
1. ACTION, 121′ (37m) Royal Huisman/Dykstra Sloop, 1-2-1, 4
2. SUNLEIGH, 105′ (32m) Jongert/Tony Castro Sloop, 3-1-4/DNS, 8
3. RANGER, 138′ (42m) Danish Yachts/S&S Dykstra Sloop, 2-3-4/RET, 9
Class B:
1. BEQUIA, 92′ (28m) Brooklin Boat Yard/Stephens Yawl, 1-2-1, 4
2. FREYA, 88′ (27m) Nautor’s Swan/Frers Sloop, 2-1-5/RET, 8
3. WILD HORSES, 75′ (23m) W-Class Yachts/White, 3-3-2, 8
4. AUDREY II, 89′ (27m) Jongert Ketch, 4-4-5/RET, 13
Class C:
1. METEOR, 170′ (52m) Royal Huisman/Dykstra Schooner, 1-3-1, 5
2. WHITEHAWK, 104′ (32m) Lie-Nielsen/Bruce King Ketch, 2-2-2, 6
3. NAEMA, 118′ (42m) Graafship/Hodgdon Yachts G Schooner, 3-1-4, 8
4. ZENJI, 184′ (56m) Perini Navi/Ron Holland 4-4-3, 11
