Detroit teams join international field for Detroit Cup

By Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki

August 20, 2014 at 10:21 pm Detroit

David Gilmour and his Team Gilmour with Luke Payne and Peter Nicholas, 2013 Detroit Cup Match Race Winners [Photo Credit: Bayview Yacht Club].

It was a great day in Detroit’s sailing world.

Skippers and crews were getting ready to head out to the regular Wednesday night races at Bayview Yacht Club, while inside the opening ceremonies were going on for one of the most prestigious match racing series in the country.

It was the kick-off for the Detroit Cup, one of a series of four match races held last weekend in Chicago, this weekend in Detroit, next weekend at the Knickerbocker Yacht Cub in New York and finally the following weekend at Oakcliff Racing, also in New York.

Winners are awarded an automatic invitation to the Congresssional Cup in Long Beach, the most prestigious match race in the world after America’s Cup.

Attracting one of these series to Detroit is just one more example of our areas’s growing niche in U.S. sailing. It was significant enough for Mayor Mike Duggan to send Deputy Mayor Ike McKinnon to be the keynote speaker Wednesday night.

Twelve teams from all over the world will compete in the round-robin series, seven from the U.S., including three from the Detroit area. The remaining teams are from Ireland, France, Singapore, Japan and an Australian team led by Sam Gilmour, whose older brother won last year’s Detroit Cup.

Shane Diviney from Dublin, Ireland is crewing on the other three Grand Slam series events but grabbed the opportunity when he had the chance to be the helmsman in the Detroit series.

Diviney and Hamish Hardy from Sydney, Australia, whose crewing for Shane, had both heard of the two Mackinac races and the Grand Slam series held here, but other than that, weren’t that familiar with Detroit racing.

In particular, they were concerned about the two-knot current in the Detroit River. Neither sails in currents at home and a current that fast will be something a little different for most of the out of town competitors.

“Where I sail in Ireland has quite a tidal shift in direction, so I’m hoping that some of my sailing back in the Irish Sea, at the Howath Yacht Club, will help,” Diviney said.

The Detroit race will use Bayview’s Ultimate 20 boats and Diviney and Hardy had both just finished their first practice race in them.

“They’re fast little boats and they’re a lot of fun,” Diviney said.

Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit youth and adult members will receive some sailing lessons as part of the regatta.