Excellent competition and hospitality, along with some welcomed sunshine, greet PNW sailors at the Women’s Winter Invitational in San Diego.
Taking off from the snowy tarmac of SeaTac on February 14th, we were beyond excited to touch down in sunny San Diego for the Women’s Winter Invitational. Hosted by San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) there were 36 teams who applied, vying for just 24 spots this year. The event is sailed in J/22s with teams of three or four women representing their clubs. Our Seattle Yacht Club (SYC) team consisted of Molly Jackson Karas, Kate Lanzinger Shuler, and I. Each of us had participated in the event previously, but this was the first time we would all be sailing together.
Going into the regatta, we were confident in the boat, our team, and the racing format. Last year, it took us some time to figure out the rotating four-boat fleet racing style, but this time around we felt strong from the get go—which was a fantastic feeling!
On Saturday, we woke up in our hotel across the bay and enjoyed a nice walk to the venue. The regatta provided a great breakfast, and after the briefing, we headed to rig. After a short postponement, the breeze filled in and it turned into a beautiful day. We raced in La Playa, which presented an interesting challenge. It is a small bay with wind coming over the hills, and the windward mark (an accessorized inflatable flamingo) was often placed in a tricky spot right where puffs would land on the water. Adding to the challenge, there were boats anchored in the bay for the weekend. Part of our pre-race strategy was to sail off the boat end of the line on starboard in order to assess first-beat tacking angles and figure out how to best weave through the anchored boats. We had the advantage of watching the first few races before starting our own.
Saturday saw wind speeds of 10-15 knots, and the race committee managed to get in 45 races, of which we raced in seven. There were no throwouts in Stage 1, so consistency was key. We accomplished that for the most part, scoring mostly 1s and 2s, but an OCS in the final race left us with a 4th to close out our scoreline. Despite finishing the day with our worst result, we were happy with our performance and knew we could apply what we had learned to Sunday’s races.
SDYC hosted a fantastic dinner, and, as always, the highlight of the regatta was karaoke! Teams sang everything from Country Roads to Hot To Go. We had a great time catching up with friends from previous years while making new friends on the dance floor.
Sunday morning saw a longer postponement, but also brought some much-needed sunshine, which was especially welcome for us Pacific Northwest sailors. Once the wind arrived, it was a shifty 13-17 knots as we wrapped up Stage 1. Out of the 76 scheduled races, we completed 65, and all the teams received their average score. Our average was exactly 2 points, which met our goal of consistency for the first stage.
In Stage 2, the top twelve teams split into Gold and Silver Fleets. After barely making the cut for Silver Fleet last year and placing second, we were thrilled to be in Gold Fleet, sitting in 6th place heading into Stage 2. The top team (SDYC) carried over half a point into the finals. As the 6th place team we carried over 3 points. With only three races left, we had our work cut out for us!
The key strategy —getting a good start and executing the first tack—were still crucial, but it was even more challenging to execute in the Gold Fleet finals now that only the six most competitive teams remained. We stuck to our plan, getting three good starts and finishing with a 4-3-3 in the series. This left us tied for third with New York Yacht Club, but we ultimately lost the tiebreak. We were happy with our results, but even more so, we were proud that we sailed a clean regatta and put together a solid series of races, improving throughout the event.
This regatta has quickly become one of my favorites and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to sail it again this year. San Diego Yacht Club put on an amazing event with great food, excellent regatta support, and tight, high-level racing. We came in with much more confidence as a team, with goals of consistency and making it to Gold Fleet—and we accomplished both! A special thank you to the SYC Foundation for helping us to get to this event. It was an incredible experience to race against talented women from all corners of the nation and to represent SYC and the PNW!
Results: Gold Fleet
San Diego Yacht Club – Rebecca McElvain 9.5 points
California Yacht Club – Derby White 10 points
New York Yacht Club – Marty Isler 13 points
Seattle Yacht Club – AnaLucia Clarkson 13 points
Eastern Yacht Club – Rachel Foster 13.5 points
Bristol Yacht Club – Amanda Callahan 14.5 points
