Don Wilson's Convexity wins M32 Newport season opener
by Hannah Lee Noll 7 Jun 2023 12:36 NZST
June 2-4, 2023
2023 Midtown Cup © Stephen R. Cloutier
The curtain on the Midtown Cup is officially open. Don Wilson and his Convexity team have been crowned champions of the first event in the American summer series.
In hauntingly similar fashion to the most recent World Championship, it was a Don vs. Dan standoff in the final race that determined the result. The head-to-head heater started with Convexity and Dan Cheresh's Extreme2 in the 1, 2 position at the starting gun. To win, Extreme2 needed to put two boats between them. Spectators reached for their popcorn because this was about to be cinema. Let the tacking duel commence! Pursuit and Rated X crept forward, putting pressure on the leaders and giving Extreme2 the opportunity to win the event if they could flush Convexity behind the trio. Alas, Convexity showed their worth and sailed a flawless race. Fearless leader Don Wilson, along with his team of Taylor Canfield, Josh McCaffrey, Kinley Fowler, Ricky McGarvie, and Dan Morris won half of the weekend's races.
In perfect breeze on Narragansett Bay, Friday's five races finished with an astonishing result: The top seven teams were each exactly one point apart from each other. Upon discovering this, the M32 group chat quickly erupted with "wow, that's interesting," "epic," and "Shakespeare couldn't have written it any better." Competition couldn't be closer.
The Class would like to extend a warm welcome to Ian Wooden and his Canadian team of Closing Time: Brian Kamilar, Billy Gooderham, Tom Ramshaw, and Graeme Sutherland.
"Feels good to kick off the season with a fun 10 races," said Principle Race Officer Mattias Dahlstrom. Teams are happy to be back in Newport despite this weekend's unusually cold weather. Trying out the M32 is simple - Demo boats are available at every event this season for prospective owners; learn more.
Sailors gathered for cocktails and camaraderie at the Midtown Oyster Bar on Friday evening. No racing Saturday due to heavy winds reaching 33 knots.
Sunday's fleet meeting started in remembrance of Hayden Goodrick, who we lost last year. He always said, "remember that we're privileged to be doing what we love." The M32 fleet will forever carry that mentality forward.
Curious about joining the fleet? At each M32 event on the schedule, potential new owners have an opportunity to demo a boat with the M32 Academy. What are ownership logistics like? What if you don't have a team yet? What kind of support will you have from the class? When will you be ready to race?
Full results available here.