Yale wins Women’s Team Race Nationals

The Yale Bulldogs held on to their Women’s Team Race Champion title, winning the 2023 championship on April 29-30 in Redwood CA. The Bulldogs were undefeated until the final four round, incurring just one loss for a final record of 18-1.

“I am really happy for the team,” said Zack Leonard, Yale’s Associate Head Coach. “Everyone got to play a part, and the kids worked super hard this year. Stanford put on an amazing show with super tremendous conditions, and the level of competition was just exceptional by all teams.”

Saturday’s wind conditions left the sailors in an on-shore postponement. After 45 minutes, a light Northerly filled in allowing RC, led by PRO Nic Baird, to run sixty races, completing the round-robin on 420Es and FJs. The wind built to 12-18 knots for the remaining 20 races, leading to exciting races amongst all the teams having to depower their boats and think more strategically about their mark traps.

Yale took the lead with an 11-0 record at the end of the day. Stanford University took second with a 10-1 lead, and MIT took third with an 8-3 record. The other teams to advance to the Top 6 were Boston College, Brown University, and Cornell University.

Sunday greeted sailors with windier conditions with winds out of the west at 15 knots. Yale maintained a 5-0 lead during the second round robin, with Yale, Stanford, Brown, and MIT advancing to the Final Four. Yale kept their lead and undefeated run until Stanford defeated them in the final flight of the day with a 1-2-3. However, their 18-1 record was enough for the Bulldogs to hold their title as reigning Women’s Team Race Champions.

“It was great to come sail at Stanford,” said Ximena Escobar ’25, crew for Yale. “We were excited when we found out it was going to be windy; we have been practicing a lot in these conditions. We were confident in our boat speed, and it was great to win with these ladies.”

Head Coach of Stanford, Chris Klevan noted how his team worked hard to host the event. “Our girls sailed admirably, and I know they are disappointed. I know we wanted to win, and I think we were good enough to win, and sometimes it does not go your way. Yale sailed really well.”

Sailing for Yale is crews – Sarah Moeder ’26, Ximena Escobar ’25, Anisha Arcot ’23, Carmen Berg ’26, Megan Grimes ’24, and Helena Ware ’23; Skippers – Mia Nicolosi ’25, Carmen Cowles ’25, and Emma Cowles ’25.

The race committee was led by PRO Nic Baird with Preston Anderson, Peter Barron, Augie Dale, Sammy Pickell, and Stanford sailors. Rob Overton was the Chief Umpire working alongside umpires Craig Daniels, Stacey Gibb, Kevin Hawkins, Ty Ingram, Julia Jaynes, Bryan McDonald, Greg Meagher, Clark Url, Raymond Huffman, and John Christman.

Winning Yale Team

Event Details – Results – Facebook

National Championship Schedule:
April 29-30, Women’s Team Race – Stanford, CA
May 23-26, Women’s Fleet Race – Kings Point, NY
May 27-29, Open Team Race – Kings Point, NY
May 30-June 2, Open Fleet Race – Kings Point, NY