American YC at the San Diego Women's Winter Invitational
American Yacht Club was proud to once again send a team to the San Diego Yacht Club’s Women’s Winter Invitational Regatta this February. With its fast-paced, short-course racing in J/22s, this regatta is always a highlight event. This year, Clemmie Everett, Carolyn Russell and Jenn Leary joined forces to represent the club.
Twenty four teams, selected from a pool of forty applicants, came from across the US, Canada and Mexico, offering strong competition. The event is a two-day, round-robin competition in groups of four boats at a time. At the completion of the round-robin portion, the top twelve teams are split into Gold and Silver fleets for three races to determine final standings. This regatta launched in 2018, and AYC has attended the past five years, reaching the Gold fleet 3 times and the Silver fleet once.
This year’s team was excited to head west and experience the exciting in-harbor, obstacle-dodging racing. While Carolyn was returning for her 4th time, Clemmie and Jenn were newbies, having never been to San Diego.
Winds varied from very light to hiking-worthy gusts and came from an atypical direction, so the team wasn’t at a disadvantage to those who frequently sail in the area. The team’s Long Island Sound training was also put to good use. After all, in summer we learn how to handle the mental challenge of sailing, waiting, and then sailing again. We are also used to shifty and inconsistent conditions.
After their ten round-robin races, the team’s scores included 7 firsts, 2 thirds and 1 fourth, putting them in 4th place position behind California Yacht Club (5-time winner), San Diego Yacht Club and Seattle Yacht Club, with Eastern Yacht Club and Mission Bay Yacht Club rounding out the top six teams who moved on to the Gold Fleet finals. The Gold Fleet finals consisted of three races and at its conclusion AYC held on to their 4th place position (matching AYC’s strongest previous finish in 2024). Seattle Yacht Club won the event with an excellent performance.
The overall event was big success, delivering exciting racing in a festive and an inclusive environment, alongside morning yoga, dockside commentary by Craig Leweck (Scuttlebutt Sailing News) and a karaoke dinner party.
