AYC on the ILCA Podium

June has been an enormously successful month for ILCA sailors in the American Yacht Club family, with Daniel Escudero winning the ILCA 7 fleet in the US Championship in Oyster Bay, Paul Clifford and Jean-Yves Fillion coming in 1-2 in the ILCA 6 at the US Masters Championship in Chicago, and Jean-Yves coming in second in the ILCA 6 at the Masters North Americans in Charleston.

2025 ILCA US Championship

The US Champs were held at Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club this year. The sailors had amazing racing on Friday, June 27th, with 15 knots blowing from the East. The course was set out of Oyster Bay into the Sound, so the sailors had 3 to 6 foot waves to work upwind and ride downwind. Daniel was a dominant force in the 31-boat ILCA 7 fleet, finishing the day with 1, 1, 1, 2.

Unfortunately, Long Island summer conditions kicked in and the wind was too light to race as planned on the Saturday and Sunday.

2025 ILCA US Masters Championship

Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club hosted the US Masters. 22 sailors raced in the ILCA 6 and were able to get 2 days of racing in of the planned 3 days. Saturday was cancelled due to gale warnings. AYC Frostbiting member Paul Clifford won the regatta both overall and in age class, and AYC member Jean-Yves Fillion came in second overall and in class.

During the regatta, the sailors were dealing with an offshore breeze ranging from 10 to 25 knots, with big shifts, pressure gaps, and some puffs so big they laid the sailors over on their ears.

Paul said, “With the strong winds, it was tempting to not risk tacking, but you had to tack on the shifts. The name of the game was looking a lot at the water, trying to figure out what was going to happen. That and positioning vis-a-vis other boats to make sure you were in the right spot for the next shift. It was a lot of chess.”

Paul came in first in 3 of the 6 races, never scoring worse than a 4th.

2025 ILCA Masters North Americans

We also caught up with Jean-Yves Fillion on his second place overall for the ILCA 6, first in age class, at North American Masters. Once again, the sailors only got 2-of-3 days of racing in, with 13 boats and 8 races in the ILCA 6 division. It was a windy regatta, with a sea breeze averaging 17 to 20 knots. The current averaged 2 knots or more and was made even trickier as 3 rivers converged where the race course was set up.

For as much breeze as they had, Jean Yves noted that it was really inconsistent. "If you got caught in a hole," he said, "it was lethal." He added, “The ILCA 6 fleet was smaller at this event but really talented, with a lot of local knowledge. I had some great moments but also a few too many unforced errors. Jacques Kerrest was at the top of his game and I was going to need a third day or racing to have a chance of beating him. Conner Blouin in the ‘apprentice’ age class was also blazingly fast.”

Upcoming Laser Sailing at American Yacht Club

Laser sailing at AYC remains strong, with one of the best fleets on the western Long Island Sound. Last year’s frostbiting season was exceptional, often getting 30 boats on the line. Our frostbiting is open to non-AYC members to apply to join as a “special frostbiting member”.

Some key dates for this year to note:

• We’ll host a two-day multi-class dinghy regatta, which will include an ILCA circle, on Sat/Sun September 20 and 21
• The multi-class Halloween Howl is Sun Oct 26
• Frostbiting begins Sun Nov 2 and runs every Sunday until the end of March

If you are interested in joining our fleet, email fleet captain Giff Constable giff.constable@gmail.com.