2015 Mayors Cup: Breault dominates ISAF Grade 3 match race

Long Beach, CA (April 20, 2015) – Nicole Breault, San Francisco, CA won the 2015 Mayor’s Cup ISAF Grade 3 women’s match race Sunday, which was also her birthday. “I turned 43 today,” Breault said, “which should show that all ages can play this game.”

Hosted by the Long Beach Yacht Club and raced on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation’s fleet of Catalina 37s, the same boats used in the ISAF Grade 1 Congressional Cup, May 13-17, Breault put on a dominating show with only one loss in the double round robin format posting a 13-1 for the weekend.

For winning this year’s Mayor’s Cup, Breault received an invitation to The Buddy Melges Challenge ISAF Grade 1 match race, Sept. 16-21, hosted by Sail Sheboygan US Sailing Center in Sheboygan, WI. as part of the 2015 Women’s International Match Racing Series. Not a bad birthday present for talented women’s match racer.

Under sunny skies and typical Long Beach breezes out of the southwest between 8-15 knots, the eight women skippers sailed 56 races over the two days during which each skipper raced each other twice.

The seven other skippers Breault had to beat were Lauren Amery, Santa Barbara, CA; Wendy Corzine, Long Beach, CA; Sandy Hayes, Scituate, MA; Jane Hoffner, Newport Beach, CA; Liz Hjorth, Marina del Rey, CA; Lisa Meier, Long Beach, CA; and Shala Youngerman, Mammoth Lakes, CA.

“I raced in the Mayor’s Cup in ’08,” Breault said. “I crewed for Sandy Hayes, and we lost to Liz Baylis. I’m happy to come back as a skipper with such a great team.”

Breault’s teammates were John Collins, bow; Hannah Burroghs, mast/bow assist; Karen Loutzenheiser, mast; Joe McCoy, pit/trim; Dana Riley, trim; Tom Ducharme, trim and Claire Dennis, main/tactics.

This regatta was unique in that the women skippers were allowed to have a co-ed crew of both men and women, something not very common to the sport of match racing.

Liz Hjorth took second-place honors in the regatta and talked about the crew mix. “What we’ve lacked,” Hjorth said, “is the transfer of knowledge from men’s match racing to women’s match racing. Women’s match racing can only improve with the help of those guys. I’ve been match racing for a long time and to find out how good the men sail and see their intensity is impressive. Having the men onboard was very helpful. We need to have more women’s match racing with both men and women on the boat.”

Third place in the regatta was Wendy Corzine, who, having raced sailboats for a number of years, is relatively new to match racing. “When I chartered the Catalina 37s for LBYC’s Wet Wednesdays,” Corzine said, “it was the first time I had skippered in years. I did match racing clinics and two other events before this with basically the same team. But this weekend it finally clicked! I get it now, and I want to do all of the match racing I can.”

Wendy Corzine credits her team and tactician Randy Smith with getting her an impressive third-place finish in the 2015 Mayor’s Cup ISAF Grade 3 match race. “Randy Smith was my tactician and to find him was amazing. The regatta was impeccably run, and having Liz Baylis and her clinic was great. She’d come up to everyone on each boat and talk to them.”

The regatta, held close to the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, was not the only racing action going on in Long Beach this weekend. The 41st Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and Verizon Indy Car Series was held on Sunday, only a couple of miles away, on the downtown street course.

Mayor Robert Garcia, as busy as he was with the Grand Prix, made a point to show up for the Mayor’s Cup trophy presentation this afternoon and helped to hand out the hardware and congratulate the competitors.

Breault shared her thoughts on the regatta after the trophy ceremony. “This is an excellent event that attracts a lot of good sailors to come into the match racing game. I hope to come back to sail in the Mayor’s Cup year after year.”

Last held in 2008, this year’s regatta is a qualifier to the US Women’s Match Racing Championship, Aug. 13-16, which will be hosted by Newport Harbor Yacht Club in Newport Beach, CA.

In 2005, Camille Daniels, currently Port Captain for LBYC, and Mary Voigt from the Long Beach Sailing Foundation were asked by then mayor for the city of Long Beach, Beverly O’Neil, and the city’s Sea Festival organizers, to put together a women’s match race regatta. With sponsors and a budget, the Mayor’s Cup ran through 2008.

In 2009 the recession hit, sponsor dollars dried up, and so did the event.

This year, with the renewed focus of LBYC becoming a match racing center, it was decided to put the Mayor’s Cup back on the calendar. Thanks to forward thinking members of the budget committee, the flag officers and board of directors, the regatta now has the financial support it needs.

Final Results
1. Nicole Breault, San Francisco, Calif., 13 wins, 1 loss
2. Liz Hjorth, Marina del Rey, Calif., 10 – 4
3. Wendy Corzine, Long Beach, Calif., 9 -5
4. Jane Hoffner, Newport Beach, Calif., 7 – 7
5. Shala Youngerman, Mammoth Lakes, Calif. 6 -8
6. Lisa Meier, Long Beach, Calif., 5 -9 (on tiebreaker)
7. Sandra Hayes, Scituate, Mass., 5 – 9
8. Lauren Amery, Santa Barbara, Calif., 1 – 13

Report by Rick Roberts, event media