Selection for three U.S. yacht clubs to join the 2013 Invitational Cup starts tomorrow

NEWPORT, RI, September 4, 2012 - The clouds and wind have settled into Narragansett Bay, and so have 24 teams from around the country, all practicing today before the first gun is fired on Wednesday in the second ever U.S. Qualifying Series for the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. Summer is nearly over, and these 100 sailors mean business as they familiarized themselves with the new J/70 one design sport boat and New York’s fleet of Sonars.

With the inaugural Invitational Cup in 2009, New York Yacht Club set the stage for a high caliber Corinthian (amateur) yacht race that connects all the great sailing clubs of the world. Won first by the host club and sailed in the NYYC Swan 42, the event has since fine-tuned the concept to include a qualifier series open to the top U.S. yacht clubs held on the off years of the biennial Invitational Cup. The event is now considered the pinnacle of a growing number of inter-club competitions in the U.S.

This week will see one of the most complete groupings of the best amateur sailors in the U.S., racing in a split-fleet format that will end with the top three teams earning a berth for the 2013 Invitational Cup. Champions from most of the major one designs and offshore classes are represented on the team rosters including former Olympians and collegiate All Americans.

The Qualifying series with sponsorship from J/Boats and Atlantis WeatherGear ends four days of racing on Saturday where the top-three yacht-club teams will shift gears towards preparing their team to race the grand prix-level Club Swan 42 in 2013 against the top international yacht clubs preparing for the Invitational Cup.

“I recognize a lot of the people on the list and they are all very good,” said Andy Lovell, who will be skippering the Southern Yacht Club entry with former Commodore Dwight Leblanc and John Killeen. Lovell, a former collegiate All American and top U.S. Star and Laser sailor said that like many of the skippers, competitive sailing has taken a bit of a back seat to life having three little girls under the age of five. But he is excited to get back into top level racing with this event, adding, “I’m very excited and nervous as well.”

U.S. Yacht Clubs represented this week include American Yacht Club, Bay Head Yacht Club, California Yacht Club, Carolina Yacht Club, Eastern Yacht Club, Edgartown Yacht Club, Fishing Bay Yacht Club, Florida Yacht Club, Fort Worth Boat Club, Grand Maumelle Sailing Club, Grand Traverse Yacht Club, Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, Little Traverse Yacht Club, Nantucket Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Pequot Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Seattle Yacht Club, Southern Yacht Club, St. Francis Yacht Club, Storm Trysail Club, Texas Corinthian Yacht Club and Youngstown Yacht Club.

About 2012 U.S. Qualifying Series sponsors Atlantis WeatherGear and J Boats:

Atlantis WeatherGear produces performance sailing apparel and sailing-inspired sportswear for all of the things active people do on and around the water. Based in the New England seaside town of Marblehead, MA, Atlantis is owned and run by passionate sailors, and their designs incorporate a unique combination of no-compromise performance and style inspired by decades of sailing experience and close collaboration with some of the best sailors in the world. www.atlantisweathergear.com

Founded in 1977 with the J/24, J Boats continues to design fun-to-sail, easy-to-handle, performance sailboats that are enjoyed by a broad spectrum of sailors. Today, 13,000+ J Boats between 22’ and 65’ sail in 30+ countries, ranging from one-designs to racers, cruisers and daysailers, including the J sprit models - J Boats' 1992 innovation (J/105) for easy-to-use asymmetric spinnakers and retractable carbon bowsprits. J Boats has been distinguished with 15 Sailing World / Cruising World Boat of the Year Awards and three ISAF International One-Design keelboat classes (J/22, J/24, and J/80). www.jboats.com

Media seeking more information contact Chris Museler This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Michael Levitt This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .