Atlantic Cup wraps up in Newport this weekend

May 21, 2014 6:16 pm

Sailors in Newport this weekend depending on the perfect weather when they take off on the third and final leg of the Atlantic Cup race. Those competitors aren’t the only racers invading Newport. Sailors preparing for the Transatlantic race, which goes from New York to Barcelona, are also in town. It’s the first time the two have been together on American soil.

The Newport Shipyard is packed with professional sailors in the Atlantic Cup race which finishes off this weekend from Fort Adams. Rob Windsor and his partner are tied for first in the class 40 event.

“We’re hoping that we can squeeze it out and get a trophy, you know and win it,” Windsor said.

The race started May 10th from Charleston sailing to New York. The second leg sailed from New York to Newport.

“We finished this leg, we sailed 250 miles, and these guys beat us by 80 seconds,” explained Windsor.

The final leg of the race is an inshore series, with a crew of 6 as opposed to two. Windsor says it should be entertaining for spectators.

“The racing is so close and the boats get really close together, I think that it can be exciting,” he said.

Also at the shipyard, competitors prepping the upcoming Ocean Masters Race which takes off June 1st from New York and sails to Barcelona.

Ryan Breymaier is the only American competitor and a former champion of the Atlantic Cup race.

“I started when I was in college at St. Mary’s College in Maryland and it’s been my profession since,” said Breymaier.

Breymaier and his partner will embark on the average 10–12 day race.

“It’s a 24-hr a day competition, which is pretty amazing. There’s not very many competitions where when you wake up in the middle of the night and you have to be worried about what your competitor is doing, and so that kind of thing is very interesting,” he said.

Breymaier is who Atlantic Cup racers aspire to be.

Race director, Hugh Piggin, says “There are some young guys on the fleet here that have aspirations to do what Ryan’s doing and to get to that level and the Atlantic Cup is the best place to start.”

The last leg of the Atlantic Cup takes off from Fort Adams this weekend.