Bermuda Junior Gold Cup – Andrew McKenzie
On Monday Dad came home
from work saying he had received a phone call from Kevin Brown President of
NZIODA asking if I wanted to go to Bermuda to compete in the King Edward VIIth
Junior Gold Cup next week. Did I
What!! We also received an email from Peter Montgomery saying we had hit the
jackpot and were sure to have a great time. He said that Dad should watch out
for the 'Dark and Stormies', On Sunday we were on the plane.
Bermuda is a small series
of islands, 22 square miles in total, approximately 600 nautical miles off the
east coast of North America, and 800 miles North East of the Bahamas, and 32
degrees north of the equator.
Actually it is way out in the Atlantic, seemingly a million miles from
anywhere. The islands form
part of the ring of a volcanic crater atop a 13,000 foot underwater mountain. Wow!
31 hours after take off and
a four hour sleep at a JFK Airport hotel we arrived in sunny Bermuda to be met
by Dede Cooper. It turned
out that Dede's son MacKenzie had become friends with my brother Sam at the
North America Opti Champs in Mexico earlier this year. What a small world!
We headed to the Royal
Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) for lunch and to watch the professional crews
training for the King Edward VII Gold Cup match racing event which was due to
start the next day. This was to be
the 100th anniversary of the Gold Cup, first sailed in 1907. The cup has a great history with
many famous skippers winning the event.
Russell Coutts holds the record for winning the event seven times. The crews of four sail in the old
fashioned 6 metre International One Design class. There were several Americas Cup sailors competing including
Magnus Holmberg (Victory Challenge), Paolo Cian (Team Shosholoza) and Ed Baird
(Alinghi).
We spent the afternoon at
our billet's house (Beth and Tom Miller) lazing by the pool overlooking the
harbour, the town of Hamilton and the match racing boats, and recovering from
the long flight. We had certainly hit the jackpot! It turned out that Beth and
Tom had hosted Paul Snow Hansen three or four years earlier and along with the
Coopers were personal friends of Peter Montgomery. Small world!
The next day we caught the
ferry for the 4 minute ride across to the yacht club, met Paul, the RBYC coach
and spent the morning prepping the boat.
It turned out Paul was a 12th generation Bermudian who had
descended from pirates in the 17th century. In the afternoon the international
sailors went for a training sail near to where the IOD boats were match
racing. I kept picturing
Paul with a patch over one eye and a parrot on his shoulder as he blew his
whistle for us to perform yet another 720. After school we were joined by some
of the local sailors for a couple of races in the light and shifty conditions.
Racing got underway on
Thursday with 32 sailors in the fleet.
We were all towed (half an hour) through a group of beautiful islands
and past some amazing houses to the Great Sound where racing was to take place.
Day 1 was sailed in 8 – 14 knots offshore breeze with partly cloudy skies,
and was closely contested all day.
Race 2 saw four boats crossing the line for 1st with only half
a boat length separating all of them.
My best race for the day came after I was forced out at the pin, crossed
the line early and had to return, starting last. I picked the right side of the oscillating breeze and
came back to finish 7th.
That, together with another 7th, and an 8th had me
placed 10th at the end of day 1. James Anfossi, a local boy who finished 5th at
the 2007 Worlds and 2nd at the North Americans was leading by a
narrow margin from Jes, one of the Danish boys at the regatta.
Day 2 dawned much greyer with
a forecast of 15 – 25, but it was still warm. The first two races started in extremely light conditions
with the breeze oscillating up to 30 degrees. I went left in the first race and I finished 4th. In the second the separation in
the fleet was huge as the breeze dropped to less than three knots. I went right and looked dead for
all money until a new breeze appeared out of the right and took me to the top
mark in 3rd. On
the final beat the rain came down in bucket loads and we could hardly see more
than 50 metres in front of us.
Dad and the race committee lost sight of the entire fleetÉwas this the
Bermuda Triangle at work? When the rain cleared I was ahead of the Portuguese sailor
and finished 2nd, my best result for the regatta.
With the passing of the
rain the wind came and we started race 3 in 22 - 25 knots and building. It was then that I realised how
unfit I had become after my accident earlier in the year. End of day 2 and I was still lying 10th.
That night we were invited
to my new friend MacKenzie CooperÕs for dinner. On the way there we drove past the home of actors Michael
Douglas and Catharine Zeta Jones.
The surprise guest at dinner was Ed Baird. Wow, even my Dad thought that was pretty cool! Ed was through to the semi finals but
it was interesting to hear that even he was a superstitious yachty. In his previous three appearances
at this regatta he had made it through to the semi finals which were sailed on
a Saturday, but had always lost.
Tomorrow was Saturday and he really wanted to be playing golf instead.
Day 3 and the front had
passed, the wind was now blowing from the opposite direction and the sun was
shining again. Racing was sailed
in glorious 12-18 knots with a 2-3 foot chop which the locals considered to be
pretty big.
Paul Allen (ex Microsoft)
cruised by in his 400, yes 400 foot super yacht Octopus with its 50 foot tender,
private submarine and jet helicopter – Wow! Rumour had it that Bill Gates was also on board.
Bermuda sure does attract some famous people!
End of day 3 with 12 races
sailed, seven sailors had received bullets showing how close the sailing
was. With one race to sail
there were still three sailors that could take out the event. Back at the yacht club the daily press conference
revealed that Ed Baird had once again lost his semi final, leaving Mathieu Richard
from France and Bjorn Hansen from Sweden to battle it out for the Gold
Cup. Like Ed Baird, I hadn't had a
great day either, but was still lying 10th.
Final day and only one race
was scheduled. It was to be held
on the Gold Cup course in front of 500+ spectators, between the petite final Ed
Baird (Alinghi) vs Blyth Walker (Bermuda) and the final. Unfortunately racing was delayed
due to a lack of wind and we had to be towed back out to the Great Sound to
sail the last race in 3 – 5 knots. And even more unfortunately I slipped
to 12th overall for the regatta. Never mind. However the main results were to be
decided in the protest room after the two top sailors collided in the
pre-start. Jes Bonde from
Denmark won the protest and the Junior Gold Cup with James Anfossi 2nd
and another local sailor, Brian Bulhoes 3rd. It was pretty cool to have our prize
giving in front of the entire match racing skippers and their crews.
The main prize giving
followed. Mathieu Richard (France) won the main Gold Cup event beating Bjorn Hansen
2-nil in the final. Ed Baird won
the petite final also winning 2 nil, finishing 3rd overall. The
spraying of Champagne signified the end of a wonderful regatta and an even more
wonderful week.
My trip will certainly
provide some lasting memories. The hospitality was fantastic, the people were
so friendly and our host families have now become life long friends. I would like to especially thank NZIODA, the Royal Bermuda
Yacht Club, the Gold Cup sponsors RenaissanceRe and Ron Stan, President of the Bermuda
Optimist Dinghy Association, for inviting me to the event. Also a special thanks to Beth, Tom and
Adrienne Miller for adopting me for the week and making me feel at home, and Dede
and Sommers Cooper and their four children for also making us part of their
family.
Perhaps the most lasting
memory will be that if I ever get to sail against Ed Baird when I grow up, I
hope it is on a Saturday!
Andrew McKenzieÉand Dad
NZL 4220
p.s. Dad said the Dark
& Stormies were great too