2023 US Junior Women’s Championship

The 2023 US Junior Women’s Championship on July 20-21 was held at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI.

Light winds tested skills and patience for the five 29er teams and 23 ILCA 6s, with 20 of the 28 entrants competing in the event for the first time.

In the ILCA 6 fleet, 2023 US Youth Worlds Girl’s Singlehanded representative Audrey Foley emerged victorious, winning the tiebreaker with Ava Anderson. Norfolk Yacht & Country Club sailor Rebecca Schill took third.

“Winning this event feels great! It was a really good five days,” said Foley. “The Junior Women’s Championship has been great prep for Youth Worlds this December. Being able to talk with coaches and work through things during the clinic has been super helpful.”

In the 29er fleet, Annie Sitzmann and Daphne Walsh won every race of the seven-race series. San Diego Yacht Club sailors Ava Gustafson and Kaya Hancock took second over teammates Julia Stewart and Madilyn Anderson who came in third.

“Our goals were to play the shifts and be very aware of the current,” said Sitzmann, skipper of the winning 29er team. “We were really focused on communicating about the shifts.”

• Most improved ILCA 6 – Petra Humphrey
• Most improved 29er – Leila Pfrang & 
Madison Bivins
• Sportsmanship ILCA 6 – Lina Carper
• Sportsmanship 29er – Sabrina & Jamie Starck

A three-day clinic on July 17-19 preceded the racing. The event does not permit private coaching, with US Sailing providing eight fleet coaches, pulled from the top college, high school, and high-performance programs in the United States. This year, a majority of the coaches, seven of the eight, were women.

Event information – Race details – Results – Photos