Royal Canadian Yacht Club
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
This will be RCYC's fifth New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup. RCYC finished second in the inaugural edition in 2009 and won the trophy in both 2011 and 2013. The RCYC is the only club to have won the trophy more than once.
RCYC was founded in Toronto in 1852 to serve both as a recreational yachting club and, in the British tradition, as an unofficial auxiliary of the Royal Navy in the defense of the waters of Lake Ontario. With its two Clubhouses, one in the heart of the city and the other on the Toronto Islands, RCYC is one of the premier clubs in Canada. Its welcoming community consists of active sailors and like-minded individuals who share an interest in yachting, sport and tradition.
Team Profile
RCYC's team for the 2019 Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup is a mix of participants from previous IC teams combined with promising younger sailors who have advanced through the RCYC's Junior Club and other RCYC supported racing teams and development programs. The 2019 IC team was determined through a race-off regatta held at the RCYC in May. Since then, the team has been training and raising awareness for the event when not on the water. In addition, the team has practiced in Newport, and has utilized its sailing friends in Newport and at the NYYC to assist in preparation.
RCYC's skipper for this year's IC, Terry McLaughlin (left), is a sailing master who has raced for the past 53 years and along the way, has collected some of the world's most coveted sailing awards. Hailing from Toronto, McLaughlin is proudly known as Sail Canada's Rolex Sailor of the Year in 2001 and 2013, winning skipper of Canada's Cup in 2001 and 2003, and was recognized as an All-American Intercollegiate Sailor in 1977 and 1979. As a helmsman, he also won the silver medal in the 1984 Olympic Games and the 2015 Pan Am Games, and led his team to victory two consecutive times in the Rolex NYYC Invitational Cup in 2011 and 2013.
Lance Fraser (right) will accompany McLaughlin in the 2019 IC as the RCYC team tactician. Also from Toronto, Fraser has spent the last 14 years racing in challenging, high-intensity sailing events. In his 14 years on the water, Fraser has been named the Bermuda Teen Athlete of the Year in 2011, qualified for and competed in six World Match Racing Tour Grade W Events, and can proudly say that he is the youngest skipper to ever qualify and compete in a WMRT event, doing so at age 17. At the helm, Fraser won the 2010 Bermuda J/24 National Championship and the RCYC York Cup in 2016, 2018, and 2019. Additionally, he placed 14th overall but first as a junior in the 2008 North American Snipe Championships, and reached a high of 34th (first in Canada and Bermuda and seventh in North America) on the World Sailing Match Racing Ranking.
