At the end of September, I traveled to Rochester New York to compete at the 2023 US Match Racing Championship for the Prince of Wales Bowl. My three other teammates, who are all current or past members of my collegiate sailing team, traveled from around the country to meet me in Rochester.
This event was our first time to test ourselves against some of the best match racers in the country, including world-ranked #1 and multiple other top 30 world-ranked match racers. The format was a single round robin into quarter-finals, then sem-finals, and then finals. Rochester Yacht Club had a great setup, with 8 sonars and warm hospitality. Lake Ontario also provided great conditions, each day brought wind into the teens and one day over 20kts. These conditions provided a challenge for all competitors trying to optimize their boat handling, which is all-important in match racing.
Mission Bay Yacht Club served host to 144 of the top Team Racers in the nation, forming 24 solid teams all competing for the USSailing Team Racing National Championship. Out of these 24 teams, SDYC was able to field two extremely competitive teams, Blue and White. My team, White, consisted of fellow SDYC Junior Sailing Alums as well as Point Loma High School alums;
Jack Egan and Aidan Hoogland. We each sailed with our respective crews during our times as junior and collegiate sailors.
This summer my teammates, Ava Gustafson, Kaya Hancock, and Taylor Ashton, and I went to Lakewood Yacht Club in SeaBrook, Texas to take part in the 2023 Sears Cup Regatta.
Our team was pulled together with the help of our coach, Steve Hunt, and our junior director, Erik Hallback, on the day of a J22 clinic. No other teams signed up so it was an amazing opportunity for us to learn even more about the J22. We practiced for 3 days with our coach and then completed in the US Sailing Area J Sears Cup Triple Handed Qualifier. This local regatta was super fun because we were the only all girls team and coincidentally had a pink spinnaker as well! It was definitely a challenge, but we managed to win first place and qualify for the Sears Cup. On August 9th we flew out to Seabrook, Texas and participated in the one-day clinic held by US Sailing. We were really grateful for this considering our team was only able to practice one time prior to the event. We had some spinnaker issues with raising and dousing it but it was very good practice for the racing to come. We also found out we were the only all girls team again at this event!