The brainchild of a handful of Junior Intermediate members (at the time) with support of the “elder statesmen” of the Club’s Adult Interclub Race Committee, the Annapolis Yacht Club is excited to once again welcome seven teams for three exciting days of racing at the 3-2-1 Invitational, September 23-25.

After a couple of dry runs in 2018 and 2019 with Clubs from around the Chesapeake Bay, the Annapolis Yacht Club 3-2-1 Invitational Committee put together the inaugural event in the fall of 2019. The event immediately garnered attention on the national inter-club racing circuit, and Clubs on both coasts began vying for an invitation.

2022 Event Co-Chair Cole Allsopp stated that “The event represents AYC’s entry into the rapidly expanding inter-club racing circuit. The circuit has mainstay events such as the Morgan Cup at New York Yacht Club, The Baldwin cup at Newport Harbor Yacht Club, The Soiland Cup at Southern Yacht Club, and many other like events around the country. Over the past ten years AYC has been steadily invited to attend more and more of these regattas. Ever since we have added the Annapolis Yacht Club 3-2-1 Invitational to the calendar, the RFI list has gone through the roof. Word has gotten out on the inter-club circuit and an invitation to our event is now a hot commodity. The combination of the uniqueness of the format and the quality of the hospitality has put us on the map nationwide.”

Annapolis YC 3-2-1 Invitational by the numbers:

The “3” in 3-2-1 stands for 3v3 team racing. Winning combinations include finishing orders: 1,2, anything; 1,3, anything; 2,3,4; 2,3,5 and 1,4,5. Any other combination loses. At the Annapolis YC 3-2-1 Invitational each team has 6 players, which means in 3v3 they’re double-handing J22s.

The “2” in 3-2-1 stands for 2v2 team racing. At the Annapolis Yacht Club 3-2-1 Invitational, a team of 6 players are split between 2 boats to race another team of 2 boats. To win a race, a team just can’t get 4th.

And of course, the “1” in 3-2-1 stands for 1v1 match racing. This is like the America’s Cup, pre-foiling – think 12-metres and Ted Turner. It is one-on-one sailing. There is no second place. While the last 2 years we sailed J/30s, for the first time this year, teams will match race J/105s!

In 2022, the roster includes:

Annapolis Yacht Club
Ida Lewis Yacht Club
Newport Harbor Yacht Club
New York Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club
San Francisco Yacht Club
St. Francis Yacht Club
Texas Corinthian Yacht Club

Check out highlights from the 2021 event HERE.

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