12 Metre Worlds

12 Metre World Championship: Serious Tight Racing, Challenge XII and Columbia Become Two-Time World Champions

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, USA (August 6, 2023) – After participating in a morning parade around Newport Harbor that was punctuated by cannon salutes from yacht clubs and other prime waterfront viewing spots, ten historic 12 Metres moved on to Rhode Island Sound for Saturday’s final race of the 12 Metre World Championship. To be named the World Champions at the end of the day, Jack LeFort’s (Winter Park, Fla./Jamestown, R.I.) Challenge XII (KA-10) had merely to finish better than fifth among Modern Division’s five entries if Takashi Okura’s Japanese entry Freedom (US-30), close behind in the standings, were to win. The day prior, Kevin Hegarty/Anthony Chiurco’s (Newport, R.I./Princeton, N.J.) Columbia (US-16) already had mathematically sewn up the nine-race series in the five-boat Traditional/Vintage Division.

After waiting for two hours, a windward/leeward course was set (later shortened) for a seven-knot breeze, and Challenge XII handily sailed to victory while Freedom finished fifth to maintain its Modern Division podium position of second place. Columbia finished third, while the fleet’s oldest boat, Mark Watson’s (Newport, R.I.) Onawa (US-6), built in 1928, sailed its way to a clean victory and a claim on second place overall for the Traditional/Vintage Division.

Both the Challenge XII and Columbia teams, homegrown with mostly local crews, won the Worlds in 2019 when it last was held in Newport.

“Conditions were light, heavy, medium…we went up the (Narragansett) Bay, out on the ocean – it was just a great across-the-board test for the fleet,” said LeFort, whose veteran team includes his wife Lisa LeFort as navigator and America’s Cup/Volvo Ocean Race veteran Ken Read as tactician. “The good news is that Sunday’s conditions – light air and lumpy seas – were good for us.”

Racing started Tuesday (August 1) with one race in light 8-9 knot breezes that gave Challenge XII (in Modern Division) and Robert Morton’s (Middletown, R.I.) American Eagle (US-21) (in Traditional/Vintage Division) an early boost for winning. Both teams, however, fell to second behind Freedom and Onawa, respectively, after two races on Wednesday, held again in light 5-8 knot air. For Thursday and Friday, 18-20 knot winds proved also to be good for Challenge XII, as the team won three of five races held in Modern Division while Columbia won all five held in Traditional/Vintage Division.

It’s not about being the fastest boat,” said Columbia’s Hegarty, who helmed at the starts and then became tactician while Chiurco drove. “Whomever performs the best, or messes up the least, is going to win. That’s why I love sailing 12 Meters; everything is manual, and it takes muscle and teamwork. There is no other class like it.”

Hegerty said it hit him in the middle of the night on Friday that he and his team – which like Challenge XII’s has been sailing together for over a decade – were now two-time 12 Metre World champions. “I woke up and just had a big smile on my face.” The smiles (and cheers) spilled over into Saturday night’s Awards Party, held at the IYRS School of Technology and Trades, which served as headquarters for the six-day event. Kudos especially were given to PRO Mark Foster and his Ida Lewis Yacht Club Race Committee team for their extraordinary acumen and patience.

“Conditions were all over the place and the Race Committee adjusted to them and so did the teams,” said Ida Lewis representative Guy Sanchez.

Other Modern Division teams competing were Peter Askew’s (Key Largo, Fla.) Enterprise (US-27), Andrew Rose’s (Newport Beach, Calif.) Defender (US-33) and Dawn Riley’s Oakcliff trainees (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) sailing Courageous (US-26).

Other Traditional/Vintage Division teams competing were Jack Klinck’s (Concord, Mass.) Nefertiti (US-19) and Steve Eddleston’s (Bristol, R.I.) Weatherly (US-17).

The Ted Turner Trophy for most significant contribution to the 12 Metre Class went to Steve Eddleston,Commodore of the 12 Metre Yacht Club Newport Station, who subsequently presented the Tiedemann Trophy for best Vintage yacht to Onawa.

The Worlds fleet included four boats that successfully defended the America’s Cup when it was sailed in Newport in 12 Metres from 1958 to 1983: Columbia – 1958, Weatherly -1962, Courageous – 1974/1977 and Freedom – 1980.

The 2023 12 Metre World Championship is sanctioned by the International Twelve Metre Association (ITMA) and hosted by the 12 Metre Yacht Club Newport Station in partnership with Organizing Authority Ida Lewis Yacht Club.

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OUR PARTNERS:

Making the 12 Metre Worlds possible are sponsors Audrain Hospitality; Clarke Cooke House; Edge Realty; Flux Marine; Gill Marine; Hammetts Hotel; Jefferson’s Bourbon Lemon & Line; North Sails; Pallas Capital Advisors; Palm Beach Motor Yachts; PKF O’Connor Davies; Seabags; and Starkweather & Shepley Insurance.

Spectator and sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Peggy Hersam, 12 Metre Yacht Club Executive Director, 12myachtclub@gmail.com, +1 (203) 807-1066. Notice of Race and other race information available at www.12mrworlds.com.

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12 Metre World Championship: At the Halfway Mark, Things are Heating Up

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, USA (August 3, 2023) – With six races under their sailing belts, the 12 Metre sailors here for the 12 Metre World Championship are more than halfway through their scheduled nine-race series. The ten-boat fleet of historic 12 Metre sloops – measuring 68-72 feet long and split evenly into Modern and Traditional/Vintage Divisions – started racing Tuesday (August 1), and though excruciatingly light winds on that day only allowed for a single race, Wednesday’s 5-8 knot breezes yielded two races, and today’s 10-12 knot breezes generously fueled three races.

“It was tricky and difficult for the first two days,” said New Zealander Murray Jones, who serves as tactician for Takashi Okura’s Japanese entry Freedom (US-30), which was leading Modern Division going into today with a one-point margin over Jack LeFort’s (Winter Park, Fla./Jamestown, R.I.) Challenge XII (KA-10). “We’re not the fastest boat in light winds, so we were just happy to make it through in good shape.” Murray has sailed in six America’s Cups (1995, 2000 and 2016 aboard New Zealand; 2003, 2007, and 2010 Alinghi; and 2013 Oracle), winning all but one (2010).

Today’s relatively stronger winds showed that Freedom had legs, but Challenge XII had the better pace and tactics to turn in a full string of victories over the three races, with Freedom taking second in all three. “It was really fantastic 12 Metre sailing today,” said LeFort, explaining that Freedom is “extraordinarily well sailed” and in the second race the two boats were overlapped almost the whole time. “It wasn’t until the middle of the last leg (of the windward-leeward twice around course) that we were able to get inside them on a jibe.”

Serving as Challenge XII’s tactician was Ken Read (Middletown,R.I.), helmsman on two Stars & Stripes America’s Cup campaigns (2000, 2003) and strategist/coach for the Young America campaign in 1995. “Ken makes the decisions on where to go and the rest of us just try to get the boat there as fast as we can,” said LeFort. “Today’s were good conditions for Challenge XII; we were right in our sweet spot.”

In Traditional/Vintage Division, Mark Watson’s (Newport, R.I.) Onawa (US-6) had the upper hand on Tuesday and Wednesday over Robert Morton’s (Middletown, R.I.) American Eagle (US-21), but only by a point going into today’s racing. Watson had said his team had done “a good job seeing where the wind was and getting into it” and Morton had been ecstatic over winning the first race of the series. Morton’s goal was to sail consistently and his score line of 2-4-2 today, added to his previous 1-4-2, allowed him to take the overall lead. With a 5-2-5 today, Onawa dropped to third place behind Kevin Hegarty/Anthony Chiurco’s (Newport, R.I.) Columbia (US-16), which won all three races today.

The 2023 12 Metre World Championship is sanctioned by the International Twelve Metre Association (ITMA) and hosted by the 12 Metre Yacht Club Newport Station in partnership with Organizing Authority Ida Lewis Yacht Club.

racing schedule:

A total of nine windward-leeward races are scheduled over five days. (Four completed races shall constitute a regatta.) Yachts will sail either on Rhode Island Sound or north of the Pell Bridge on Narragansett Bay.

Tuesday, August 1 – Saturday, August 5. Rendezvous location announced on VHF Radio channel 72 at 9:00 a.m. with the first warning signal at 11:00 a.m.

Saturday, August 5 Rendezvous location announced at 9:00 with first warning signal at 12:00 noon following the boat parade. No race will start after 3:00 on Saturday.

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OUR PARTNERS:

Making the 12 Metre Worlds possible are sponsors Audrain Hospitality; Clarke Cooke House; Edge Realty; Flux Marine; Gill Marine; Hammetts Hotel; Jefferson’s Bourbon Lemon & Line; North Sails; Pallas Capital Advisors; Palm Beach Motor Yachts; PKF O’Connor Davies; Seabags; and Starkweather & Shepley Insurance.

Spectator and sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Peggy Hersam, 12 Metre Yacht Club Executive Director, 12myachtclub@gmail.com, +1 (203) 807-1066. Notice of Race and other race information available at www.12mrworlds.com.

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12 Metre World Championship: A Live-ACTION HISTORY LESSON

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, USA (July 23, 2023) – The year 2023 marks exactly 40 years since the U.S. lost the America’s Cup to Australia on the world stage of Newport, R.I. That moment in sports history might not have gotten the attention it did had it not been for the breaking of the longest winning streak in sporting history (132 years) or the international intrigue surrounding the moment when Australia unveiled its “secret weapon” winged keel on its winning 12 Metre Australia II (KA-6), skippered by John Bertrand, which prevailed four races to three over Liberty (US-40), skippered by Dennis Conner. But there it was – on September 26, 1983 at Newport Offshore (now Club Wyndham Newport Onshore) – for millions across the globe to see by television and thousands in Newport to see in person: a bird-like appendage that contributed to a sporting upset bigger than any before, leaving 26-time (since 1851) America’s Cup Defender New York Yacht Club stunned and first-ever successful Challenger Royal Perth Yacht Club elated.

“What’s intriguing is that Challenge XII (KA-10) was built in 1982 for the 1983 Challenger Trials as a second boat for Australia (sailed by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club); it was a sister-ship to Australia II, except she had (and still has) a traditional keel instead of a winged keel,” said Jack LeFort (Winter Park, Fla./Jamestown, R.I.), who has owned Challenge XII for eight years and will skipper her in the upcoming 12 Metre World Championship, which starts Sunday, July 30. “No one on the outside knew what was giving Australia II an edge on speed, but Challenge XII was impressively fast, too.” (After losing in the Challenger quarterfinals, Challenge XII became the Trial horse for KA-6.

LeFort won the Modern Division at the 2019 12 Metre World Championship, also held in Newport, and says the competition this time around – among a total of ten historic 12 Metres (five in Modern and five in Traditional/Vintage Division) – will prove extraordinarily close on a world-class level. “In the Modern Division, the team aboard Takashi Okura’s Freedom (US-30) (America’s Cup winner in 1980) has won the TP/52 Worlds twice and the Enterprise (US-27) team, skippered by Peter Askew, is well known for its winning Wizard campaigns. As well, Courageous (US-26) (Cup winner in 1974 and 1977) and Defender (US-33) have certainly proved themselves in recent regattas.”

“I was still in school in ’83 and was on the dock during the Trials in 1977 when Ted Turner and Gary Jobson rushed by with cameras following them,” said Courageous Skipper Dawn Riley, who would go on to sail in four America’s Cup races and two Whitbread Round the World races. “It made a big impression on a 13-year-old from Detroit!”

Riley will sail with a young and diverse crew from the Oakcliff Sailing Center she runs in Oyster Bay, N.Y. “No one other than me and one trimmer had ever stepped foot on a 12 Metre before this May,” said Riley. (The America’s Cup had moved on to other boats when Riley competed.) “Courageous seems to be a very solid boat, and when we can sail away from other boats, we are good. When we get close to them, we have some learning to do. Hydraulic headstays and runners, check stays, overlapping jibs and dip pole jibes are all new to most of our team.”

According to Robert Morton (Middletown, R.I.), skipper of American Eagle (US-21) in Traditional/Vintage Division, “Everyone has to figure out how to beat Columbia (US-16) (Cup winner in 1958). She has a consistent record of winning each regatta, and although it is very close racing, she has a definite speed edge on the rest of the fleet. We feel that consistency is a key aspect of a long regatta like this, so our goal is to stay near the top in every race. We have not sailed against Onawa (US-6) very much, so she adds a new dimension to the racing during this series.” Nefertiti (US-19) and Weatherly (US-17) (Cup winner in 1962) are also sailing in Traditonal/Vintage Division.

Morton fondly remembers the times when the America’s Cup had a national interest (cover stories in Sports Illustrated and Time magazines) and Newport was the center of the sports world for that whole summer of 1983.

“I was there on the final day of the Cup in ‘83, and I will never forget the huge spectator fleet coming in past Castle Hill with all their running lights on because the days were shorter in September,” said Morton. “The 12 Metres turned out to be excellent boats for match racing and virtually all of the technical developments associated with gearing the boats up for the Cup trickled down to the average sailor and racer. Today, the America’s Cup is way too far from the experience of the average sailor, and those boats will never be around and sailing 40 years from now.”

Spectators can view the historic 12 Metres sailing either outside on Rhode Island Sound or north of Pell Bridge on Narragansett Bay (determined by weather) from Tuesday, August 1 through Saturday, August 5 when racing is scheduled.

“Onboard, the 12 metres are powerful and complicated,” said Dawn Riley about the single-masted sloops ranging between 68-72 feet in length, “but from off the boat, they are a majestic sight to see. I hope everyone can enjoy them all lined up and sailing at full power.”

The 2023 12 Metre World Championship is sanctioned by the International Twelve Metre Association (ITMA) and hosted by the 12 Metre Yacht Club Newport Station in partnership with Organizing Authority Ida Lewis Yacht Club.

racing schedule:

A total of nine windward-leeward races are scheduled over five days. (Four completed races shall constitute a regatta.) Yachts will sail either on Rhode Island Sound or north of the Pell Bridge on Narragansett Bay.

Tuesday, August 1 – Saturday, August 5. Rendezvous location announced on VHF Radio channel 72 at 9:00 a.m. with the first warning signal at 11:00 a.m.

Saturday, August 5 Rendezvous location announced at 9:00 with first warning signal at 12:00 noon following the boat parade. No race will start after 3:00 on Saturday.

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OUR PARTNERS:

Making the 12 Metre Worlds possible are sponsors Audrain Hospitality; Clarke Cooke House; Edge Realty; Flux Marine; Gill Marine; Hammetts Hotel; Jefferson’s Bourbon Lemon & Line; North Sails; Pallas Capital Advisors; Palm Beach Motor Yachts; PKF O’Connor Davies; Seabags; and Starkweather & Shepley Insurance.

Spectator and sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Peggy Hersam, 12 Metre Yacht Club Executive Director, 12myachtclub@gmail.com, +1 (203) 807-1066. Notice of Race and other race information available at www.12mrworlds.com.

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12 Metre World Championship: ready to roll

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, USA (July 11, 2023) – The 2023 12mR World Championship, sanctioned by the International Twelve Metre Association and hosted by the 12 Metre Yacht Club Newport Station in partnership with Organizing Authority Ida Lewis Yacht Club, starts Sunday, July 30 and will continue with five days of racing (Tuesday through Saturday, August 1-5). For those who may not know, this is one of the most significant events related to Newport’s heritage as an epicenter for world-class sailboat racing. The America’s Cup, one of the most famous competitions between countries, was held here in Newport 12 times from 1930 to 1983, and for nine of those times, from 1958 to 1983, the sailboat used to determine the winners was the 12 Metre, a single-masted sloop ranging between 66-72 feet in length.

Ten historic 12 Metres will compete in the World Championship, which was last held in the U.S. (in Newport) in 2019. They include four yachts that have successfully defended the America’s Cup: 1958, Columbia (US-16); 1962, Weatherly (US-17); 1974 & 1977 Courageous (US-26) and 1980, Freedom (US-30).

On the 2023 roster, all but Weatherly and Nefertiti (US-19) competed at the 2019 12 Metre Worlds, which saw Challenge XII (KA-10) and Columbia each winning their respective divisions – Modern and Traditional – with returning helmsmen Jack LeFort (Winter Park, Fla./Jamestown, R.I.) and Kevin Hegarty/Anthony Chiurco (Newport, R.I./Princeton, N.J.), respectively.

In the Modern Division, returning 12 Metres Courageous, Defender (US-33), Freedom and Enterprise (US-27) all will be sailed by new groups. America’s Cup Hall of Fame member Dawn Riley (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) will skipper Courageous with a young and diverse crew from Oakcliff Sailing aboard. Andrew Rose (Newport Beach, Calif.) will take the helm of Defender, while Japan’s Takashi Okura will lead his team aboard Freedom, and Peter Askew (Key Largo, Fla.) will skipper Enterprise.

“This is a highly competitive group and we expect extremely close racing,” said 12 Metre Yacht Club Director Peggy Hersam. “You won’t want to miss it!”

In the Traditional Division, returning American Eagle (US-21) will be skippered by Bob Morton while newcomers to the Worlds Weatherly and Nefertiti will be skippered by Steven Eddleston (Bristol, R.I.) and Jack Klinck (Concord, Mass.), respectively.

In Vintage division, which will be combined with the Traditional Division for racing purposes here, Onawa (US-6) returns with Mark Watson (Newport, R.I.) at the helm.

12 Metre pre-worlds

Congratulations to Enterprise (US-27), sailed by Peter Askew (Key Largo, Fla.) for winning the 12-Metre Pre-Worlds in the Modern Division. Columbia (US-16), with Kevin Hegarty (Newport, R.I.) and Anthony Chiurco (Princeton, N.J.) leading the charge, won the combined Traditional/Vintage class. The Pre-worlds were part of Sail Newport’s 2023 Newport Regatta, held July 8-9 in Newport. Seven of the 10 Twelves registered for the Worlds competed over four races.

12 Metre parade

At 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 5, fans can cheer on their favorite teams during the Parade of 12 Metres. Led by Race Committee Signal Boat Casta Diva and dignitaries and VIPs aboard a special Palm Beach Motor Yacht, will consist of twelve historic 12 Metres (many of which sailed here during Newport’s America’s Cup days).

The 12 Metres will start east of Goat Island and parade clockwise around the harbor, past Newport Yacht Club, Bannister’s Wharf, Newport Yachting Center/Hammetts Hotel, the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS), Ida Lewis Yacht Club, and New York Yacht Club where they will be saluted by cannon before heading out for their final race of the series. Catch them from these locations and just about every wharf on the east side of Newport Harbor. Give them a hip hip hooray, and look for Newport’s Boys & Girls Club kids who will be riding on Heritage (US-23) and Intrepid (US-22). The latter Twelve is a two-time winner of the America’s Cup and one of the most famous yachts worldwide!

racing schedule:

A total of nine windward-leeward races are scheduled over five days. (Four completed races shall constitute a regatta.) Yachts will sail either on Rhode Island Sound or north of the Pell Bridge on Narragansett Bay.

Tuesday, August 1 – Friday, August 4. Rendezvous location announced on VHF Radio channel 72 at 9:00 a.m. with the first warning signal at 11:00 a.m.

Saturday, August 5 Rendezvous location announced at 9:00 with first warning signal at 12:00 noon following the boat parade. No race will start after 3:00 on Saturday.

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Making the 12 Metre Worlds possible are sponsors Audrain Hospitality; Clarke Cooke House; Edge Realty; Flux Marine; Gill Marine; Hammetts Hotel; Jefferson’s Bourbon Lemon & Line; North Sails; Pallas Capital Advisors; Palm Beach Motor Yachts; PKF O’Connor Davies; Seabags; and Starkweather & Shepley Insurance.

Spectator and sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact Peggy Hersam, 12 Metre Yacht Club Executive Director, 12myachtclub@gmail.com, +1 (203) 807-1066. Notice of Race and other race information available at www.12mrworlds.com.

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