Newport, Rhode Island's Harbour Court plays host this week to one of amateur sailing's most prestigious gatherings. Racing in the 2025 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup opened on 9 September and runs through to 13 September, with 20 yacht clubs from 12 nations competing under the Corinthian banner. This ninth edition of the regatta brings together some of the finest amateur sailors on the planet, all contesting a format deliberately engineered to reward skill over spending.
That format is central to the regatta's reputation. Since 2019, every competing crew has raced the Club's own fleet of IC37s, one-design keelboats designed by Mark Mills and maintained, owned, and tuned to identical standards by the New York Yacht Club itself. No equipment edge is available to anyone. What wins races here is seamanship, tactics, and the ability to function as a team under pressure.
Optional practice sessions took place earlier in the week before two mandatory practice days on Sunday and Monday. Five days of racing then followed, with the Rolex Awards Dinner on Saturday 13 September bringing the competition to a close.
San Diego Yacht Club arrive as the team to beat. Back-to-back podiums, culminating in victory in 2023, have made them the regatta's most formidable recent presence. Helmsman Jake La Dow steps into the role previously held by Tyler Sinks, though tactician Adam Roberts and much of the title-winning crew are back. La Dow is direct about the team's intentions: "San Diego has done very well at this event. We want to keep building on that. We're still hungry to keep getting better."
Royal Thames Yacht Club will be among those most determined to stop them. Winners in 2015 and runners-up in 2021, they bring both history and current form to Newport. Helmsman John Greenland and tactician Ian Dobson have put the team through its paces in the Solent as well as Rhode Island waters ahead of the regatta. Dobson is confident, if measured: "We think our team this year is the best it's ever been on paper. It's about turning that paper into practice."
Corinthian Yacht Club of Marblehead may be the most intriguing contender. A surprise second-place finish in 2023 has been followed by an impressive run of form: the club claimed the Global Team Race Regatta title in Italy in 2024 and then won the World Sailing Team Racing World Championship earlier this year. Seven of their nine crew from 2023 are back, but skipper Wade Waddell is under no illusions about the difficulty of repeating that result. "Every iteration of the Invitational Cup the level keeps going up," he says. "If we roll back to Newport at the same level as 2023, that might not even get us in the top five."
The Royal Canadian Yacht Club, two-time Invitational Cup winners, are entering a new era. Olympic silver medallist Terry McLaughlin, long the face of RCYC's campaigns at this regatta, has stepped back to make way for Lance Fraser at the helm. Spinnaker trimmer Liam Millen captures the transition with a touch of humour: "RCYC, Team Defiant, under new management." The Canadians have invested heavily in IC37 competition over the past two years and are widely tipped as genuine contenders under their new leadership.
Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, fifth in 2023, are aiming for a step up the leaderboard. Helmsman Peter Backe leads the campaign alongside 21-year-old tactician Duncan Gregor, who sees his additional years of experience as a meaningful advantage. "I've got a couple years more experience racing," says Gregor, "so hopefully we'll use that and do a bit better this year."
Several clubs are making their first appearances in the regatta, none more keenly anticipated than the Royal Irish Yacht Club. Skipper David Maguire is no stranger to Newport, having led Howth Yacht Club in 2023, but stepping aboard on behalf of a new club brings fresh motivation. "Being able to step on board a boat that is specifically designed for this event, with some of the best amateur sailors in the world competing is amazing," he says. Ireland has a notably strong presence in the overall fleet, with Howth Yacht Club and Royal Cork also fielding crews.
Brazil enters the regatta for the first time through Yacht Club de Ilhabela, with Olympic silver medallist Gintare Scheidt calling tactics. Their debut echoes the splash made by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in 2023, when the Kiwi club claimed a podium finish. The Squadron will not be defending that result in this ninth edition, however, with logistical challenges keeping them away from Newport this time around.
Youth is a noticeable thread running through the 2025 fleet. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club from Sydney have constructed their campaign around developing the next generation, with the crew averaging just 27 years of age once helm Michael Ritchie and co-skipper and tactician Chris Way are excluded from the calculation. Way explains the thinking: "One guy's really young, and he's learning on a very steep curve. That was our intent, to bring a youth team to sail with us."
The New York Yacht Club itself carries the weight of expectation that comes with hosting. Their only Invitational Cup victory came in the inaugural edition in 2009, and the club is keen to add a second. This year's campaign is led by Hannah Swett, a former Olympic hopeful across multiple classes, an America's Cup veteran, and the 2003 US Sailing Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, with tactician John Alden Meade and main trimmer Dave Scott alongside her. Swett describes an intensive but rewarding preparation process: "It's really fun introducing people to the campaign process. Part of the reason we're sailing so much is so that it all just becomes routine."
Racing from 10 September onwards is being broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube, giving followers around the world direct access to the on-water action. The Rolex Awards Dinner on 13 September will then bring proceedings to a close.
With defending champions, resurgent rivals, promising debutants, and crews averaging in their mid-twenties all competing on identical boats, the 2025 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup is shaping up as a compelling test of everything that makes Corinthian sailing worth watching.
