Our team of Mike Nicoletti on bow, Jake Mayol on mast, Brock Paquin jib trim, Travis Wilson spinnaker trim, Max Mayol main trim won the 2017 Butler Cup Match Race Regatta last weekend. This is the second Catalina 37 event our team has participated in and won this Fall up in Long Beach, representing San Diego Yacht Club.

The conditions were breezy and although our first race on Saturday morning was cancelled after we had built an early lead, due to some large early morning shifts, the direction eventually settled in well enough for the race committee to fire off a full double round robin of races. We lost one race due to a loose cover and a right shift on Saturday which left us tied for first going into Sunday.

On Sunday we kept our covers tighter and managed to win out the third and final round robin and the event. Our last race was the closest margin of victory as we saw our early lead erode due to a left pressure and angle build on the final run. Our jibe back to starboard to protect the finish line was just in time as we finished that race overlapped with the local Long Beach team who were sailing very well.

Our finish result qualifies us for the 2018 California Dreamin' match race series and we look forward to representing SDYC next year at those three events.

Congratulations to Team SDYC, winners of the 2017 Lipton Cup! Skipper Tyler Sinks, in his third year as the leader of SDYC's Lipton Cup team, outlasted the defending champions from Newport Harbor Yacht Club skippered by last year's winner Jon Pinckney. 

The final day of the 2017 International Masters Regatta could not have been a more picturesque day out on the water. Under the bright sun in South San Diego Bay, the twelve accomplished master sailors (slightly tired from the Saturday night banquet, but thirsty for the last day of competition) completed the last three races of the three-day regatta hosted by San Diego Yacht Club.

The one weather complaint today was lack of wind at the scheduled start time. Race Committee postponed racing for an hour until the breeze came up to 5 knots and they were able to start the first race. There was a huge wind shift to the right at the end of the first race, so Race Committee re-set everything for the second and third races. Due to timing, Race Committee made the call to only run 11 races total, and they sent competitors on a long three legged race for race 11 in order to get back to SDYC for the awards ceremony.

For the past two weeks, we've been training at Oakcliff in Long Island, NY. During this focussed time in the 49er, we've had the chance to practice by ourselves, practice with other 49er Olympic hopefuls, and compete. We've sailed two regattas since being here and have performed well. You can find results here. 

Looking forward into the next few weeks, we'll be doing a bit of training in Southern California and Miami in October, followed by a month long training trip to Australia in November. We're really excited for the opportunity to travel to Australia, where we'll be spending time in Sydney and Melbourne training and competing. Keep reading to see how you can help support us in the coming weeks.

After eight races, eight varied race winners and a wide range of racing conditions, Drew Friedes' PACIFIC YANKEE with tactician Morgan Reeser and crew member Charlie Smythe have captured their very first major international title in the Melges 20 Class, that of 2017 Melges 20 World Champions.