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« Back Post Date: Monday, July 15, 2019
Andy Lovell skippers IC37 Team to Second Place in Newport Regatta
NEWPORT, R.I. — Team SYC (to leeward in photo) practices on Narragansett Bay while waiting for the next race at the Sail Newport Regatta July 6–7. Skippered by Andy Lovell, Southern Yacht Club took a strong second in the IC37 Class, overcoming a black flag DSQ in the third race. Team SYC owned Sunday with finishes of 1-1-3 and placed second, only two points out of a win.


New York Yacht Club's fleet of identical Melges IC37s sail upwind on Day 2 of the 2019 Sail Newport Regatta

Results


Andy Lovell and Team SYC owned the second day of the 2019 Sail Newport Regatta July 6–7 to overcome a black flag disqualification in the third race and finish a close second overall in a 17-boat fleet. 

Team SYC posted two wins and a third on Sunday to compensate for a black flag DSQ in the third race on Saturday that saw 10 of the 17 boats draw the black flag at a general recall. In addition to Team SYC, notable groups who were DSQ’d for the race included former NYYC Commodore Phil Lotz and former Olympian Thomas Stark. 

Besides Andy Lovell and guest tactician Steve Benjamin, Team SYC was comprised of Clerc Cooper, Andrew Eagan, Langston Goldenberg, Jeanne Herman, Johnny Lovell and Jonathan Schrantz. “The crew worked very hard for five days leading up to the Sail Newport Regatta. The hard work paid off.", said Andy. “Unfortunately we were called over the line in a black flag general recall in race 3 disqualifying us from that race. We were resilient and stayed on the water training while race 3 occurred. On Sunday there was little doubt which team won the day.” 

Team SYC finished with 17 points, only two behind regatta winner Rick Merriman and his San Diego Yacht Club crew, who did not have to throw out a black flag score. Merriman sailed with Southern Yacht Club in the winning 2017 Invitational Cup campaign, and San Diego YC purchased their own IC37 to serve as a practice boat on the West Coast. 

The Sail Newport Regatta was the first major test of the SYC team in defending the Invitational Cup won in 2017. This year’s competition is being sailed in the new NYYC IC37 boats, which have been purpose-designed and built for the Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup competition to be held in Newport September 7–15. 

Burt Benrud is coordinating SYC campaign fund-raising, which still has a gap to the financial goal. Contributions can be made to Southern Sailing Foundation (www.southernsailingfoundation.org), a recognized 501(c)3 non-profit, and are tax-deductible as allowed by law.