Bradenton sailors get opportunity of a lifetime at America’s Cup

Thirty years after she last attended the America’s Cup, Sue Davidson was brought to tears when she found out she would be returning to watch the event.

The Sarasota Sailing Squadron hosted the O’Pen Bic North American Championships back in March with the top six finishers qualifying for the America’s Cup Endeavour O’pen, a race for sailors 15 and younger which serves as a “halftime show” at the America’s Cup. J.J. Smith, Davidson’s daughter, just squeaked in with a sixth-place finish in Sarasota.

“She was there when I qualified to go to this America’s Cup,” Smith said, “and she started crying.”

Smith, 15, was one of two Manatee County sailors from the Sarasota Sailing Squadron to qualify for the 32-sailor event in Bermuda. Smith finished fifth and Bryce Tone, a 14-year-old teammate who won the North American Championships, finished third.

“Where we raced and where we performed for the crowd in the America’s Cup village was literally in the same place as where the America’s Cup boats sailed,” Smith said, “and that was so dumbfounding.”

Smith and Tone each spent a week down in Bermuda watching the world’s premier sailing competition in person and competing in a handful of small events on the same course raced by teams like champion Team New Zealand and runner-up Oracle Team USA.

For Smith, it’s sort of a crowning moment to her sailing career so far. The daughter of a pair of sailors, she’s been on boats since she was 5 and now mostly sails 420s out of Sarasota.

“They thought it was pretty cool,” Smith said of her parents. “They really liked the experiencce of seeing the America’s Cup in person.”

Tone will have one more year of eligibility for the 15-and-under event to give Sarasota Sailing Squadron another accomplishment after an already-successful 2017.

This story was originally published July 4, 2017 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Bradenton sailors get opportunity of a lifetime at America’s Cup."