A talented group of local sailors went south to join a star-studded fleet, and put Sloop Tavern Yacht Club on the map as a force to be reckoned with and a heck of a lot of fun!
In 2024, a group of Puget Sound sailors compiled a team and submitted a request for invitation to the Linda Elias Memorial Women’s One-Design Challenge (LEMWOD), the premiere invitational women’s one-design regatta on the West Coast, often drawing All Americans, Yachtswoman of the Year recipients, and members of the US Sailing Team. Hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and raced in the matched fleet of 10 Catalina 37s, the event consists of crews of about 10 women on each boat, racing in competitive windward-leeward courses over two days.
Under the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club (STYC) burgee, the Northwest Maivens were selected in 2024 to compete based on our sailing resumes and past participation of team members Molly Howe, Taylor Joosten, Elishia Van Luven, and Vikki Fennell. These gals have sailed all over the charts, racking up tens of thousands of nautical miles under their collective keels, racing and cruising. The 2024 STYC Team put up a respectable sixth place showing, right behind Alli Bell (the first woman to win the Transpac).
When US Women’s Match Racing Champion Allie Blecher was looking at the entry list she asked, “What’s Sloop Tavern Yacht Club?” not knowing some of us Maivens were standing nearby, and Molly piped up, “It’s a bar.” More specifically, it’s a bar with a sailing addiction and a fun-loving community. Considering the competition hailed from elite yacht clubs like St. Francis and San Diego, the Sloop Tavern team showed the rest of the fleet that the only thing Puget Sound sailors take more seriously than racing is having a good time. The Northwest Maivens endeared themselves on the race course and back at the dock well enough to earn a spot at the 2025 edition of the LEMWOD Regatta.
In October, we Maivens made our way back south to LBYC, and the indomitable Molly Howe was once again our fearless captain at the helm. The rest of the 2025 crew, from stern to bow was: AnaLucia Clarkson, Taylor Joosten, JJ Hoag, Kate Hearsey, Hayley Rawden, Kelly Moon, Genevieve Fisher, Elishia Van Luven, and Vikki Fennell—each with notable racing accomplishments in their own right.
Going into the weekend, the returning crew knew what to expect from the event and their teammates from the previous year. For the new crew members, the practice day on Friday offered a good taste of the weekend ahead. Tactician AnaLucia Clarkson shared her thoughts on team dynamics. “I have never been part of a team where everyone was so trusting of each other in their roles. I was nervous going into the event because 10 people is the biggest team I’ve sailed on and it was my first regatta on a boat where the tactician does not have another role. The support and trust from these amazing women made my job easy. The team meshed incredibly and everyone owned their job, their learning, and their mistakes. It was an amazing experience.”
In true Northwest fashion, we Maivens made and hoisted battle flags for the transit back to the dock. As the weekend went on more battle flags were created and flown with Pacific Northwest pride. We pumped ourselves up with a playlist of crew-specific “walk up” songs on the way out the race course.
We got out of the gate on Saturday taking 3rd in the first race. It put the team in a good place mentally, knowing that we could start well and hold decent boatspeed. The mark roundings were solid and the communications on board were collaborative and productive. From the mast, Elishia noticed throughout the day that, “There was constructive talk that we acted on. Everyone was open to trying different methods and receptive to input.”
Skipper Molly Howe, appreciated “…tons of constructive talk on the rail to keep the boat going fast, specifically while in close situations and trying to sail out from under another team. And AnaLucia’s decisive tactical calls.”
The rest of Saturday saw fair to middling results. Starting proved a particular challenge. In the competitive fleet of accomplished skippers—many of whom had sailed these boats at this event regularly for years or even decades—finding a clear lane with clean air was no easy feat. The crew work and boat handling got better every race and, combined with boat speed, this kept the team fast and optimistic. There were calls for “Tits Up!” both when the pole tip needed to be raised while the kite was flying, and to remind each member of our crew to stay positive and uplifted in the few moments we were feeling discouraged.
AnaLucia absolutely owned the tactician role, constantly evaluating, taking in and and processing information, and providing clear, decisive calls. Importantly, she held herself accountable for the calls that didn’t materialize in the results she wanted. The crew valued that AnaLucia was expertly “flitting around the boat”, managing weight placement, roll tacks and jibes, and communicating with the entire crew about anticipated maneuvers. At the end-of-day debrief, the brain trust of AnaLucia, Molly, and Taylor offered positive feedback for the whole group: the corners and boat handling were good and getting better, and dialing in the starts was the work for day two.
Our team’s efforts were rewarded when we returned to the rental house to find that the pool guy had accidentally heated the entire pool to a balmy 95 degrees, creating a giant hot tub that we delighted in for the rest of the evening.
When the Maivens assembled for the second day of racing on Sunday, we started out reviewing notes from day one and making tweaks to squeak out even more boat speed. We were fired up for more racing and flying ever more battle flags. We made a plan for the start and executed the strategy with assertive precision, absolutely nailing the start in the Sunday’s first race. With the plan of “get ahead a stay ahead” in play, Pit Boss Kelly shared that her highlight of the weekend on the water was “the weather mark rounding in race five.” She continued, “We got the kite up and filled and were off and running while boats behind were slow to fill their kites rounding behind us—it just gave us such an opportunity to get launched and increase the lead.” We Sloop Tavern Maivens secured a commanding win in the first race of the final day of the regatta.
The next race involved executing a similar strategy, and we finished second. In the last race of the regatta, we were aggressive in the pre-start and wound up OCS. Vikki called the over early from the bow and AnaLucia and Molly made a plan to bail quickly and restart. Our team had figured out boat handling, roundings, and fleet management and battled back to finish third. Molly said that the comeback after the OCS on the last race was one of her many highlights from the weekend, “That was epic.”
Taylor did the math and realized that we had won the day by three points and had tied for third overall! While our consistent day two performance wasn’t quite enough to win the tiebreaker and get on the podium, it undeniably put Puget Sound Sailors on the map as a force to keep on the radar. The Northwest Maivens represented STYC with distinction in both our results and by “winning” the social events. We are extremely proud of our hard fought fourth place finish, and excited to do it all under the Sloop Tavern banner. We were up against some formidable competition, edging out fellow sailors for whom our team has enormous respect, like San Diego Yacht Club’s Alli Bell (who all of us Maivens had been fan-girling over, and who graciously offered her camaraderie and support to the Maivens throughout the weekend) and longtime Catalina 37 racer from Southwestern Yacht Club Summer Greene.
Knowing that we were off the hook for getting called up during the awards ceremony, we Maivens jumped in the pool for the best viewing in the house, getting snacks and margaritas delivered pool side by teammates and new friends, and cheering rambunctiously for the competitors that sailed so well and got to stand on the podium. We cheered especially loud for Lucy Wilmot and our friends on the crew from San Francisco Yacht Club that took the win—many of whom joined us in the pool after the hardware had been handed out.
Elishia and trimmer JJ summed up a truly great with their highlights of “sailing with a kickass group of women” that had “the perfect balance of competitive and focused, yet fun, attitudes.”
AnaLucia speaks for the entire crew when she says that the Northwest Maivens “can’t wait to come back next year and give the podium another shot! It was one of the most positive team experiences and also one of the most fun!”
Full results at: www.sailwave.com/results/2025LindaElias_Oct_11-12.htm
