Knickerbocker Cup: Full Metal Jacket Racing Report on Day One

by Will Tiller

Racing started today at the Knickerbocker Cup, sailed out of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club in New York. A gusty 4 to 8 knot breeze held for all five of our races, making sailing to the pressure key with noticeable changes in speed occurring when in slightly different wind strengths.

In our fourth race of the day against Russia’s Sergey Musikhin, we crossed the starting line with a penalty due to contact in a luff by Sergey late in the prestart. However we won the left side of the course and rounded the top mark with a three boat length lead. With good pace we further extended on the run and second beat, allowing us to complete our turn on starboard lay to the top mark and still hold a lead of three boat lengths. From here we were able to hold our lead to the finish.

Finishing the day on three wins and two losses, we are looking forward to our remaining six races in the round robin. We have to finish in the top six in order to qualify for the next stage, so need to come out strong tomorrow.

We would like to say thanks to our principal sponsor Chris Meads from Full Metal Jacket, SLAM, Aon New Zealand and The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Stay tuned, FMJ Racing

Full Metal Jacket Racing
Knickerbocker Cup