Raising the bar in women’s team racing

Being the captain for competitive adult team sport is often a thankless task involving a lot of emails, texts and phone calls to coordinate a group of busy people with multiple conflicting priorities. For St. Francis Yacht Club Team Captain Kate Shiber, however, filling out her squad for the New York Yacht Club’s Women’s 2v2 Team Race was a simple process.

“The sailors from last year all wanted to do it again,” said Shiber at the awards ceremony. “So we just brought the same team. The job was pretty easy.”

Easy and successful. With a consistent performance across a range of conditions, the St. Francis Team won the fifth edition of the New York Yacht Club’s Women’s 2v2 Team Race on May 17-18, successfully defending the title it won last year. Runner-up was Eastport Yacht Club, the third straight year a Chesapeake Bay team has finished second. New York Yacht Club Maxwell, one of two teams representing the host club, took the final podium spot.

“Each [St. Francis] crew had sailed together, but the 2024 Women’s 2v2 was the first time we sailed together in the 2v2 format,” said Shiber. “We definitely learned a lot about how to work together, and then we practiced a bunch and had even better chemistry this year.”

The event annually attracts top female sailors from across the USA, using Sonars (with spinnaker) for the 2-on-2 format in Newport, RI. The inaugural event was won by the host club in 2021, with Lauderdale Yacht Club winning in 2022, Bristol Yacht Club winning in 2023, and St. Francis Yacht Club taking the title in 2024.

After enduring a cold and blustery regatta in 2024, the competitors in the 2025 Women’s 2v2 enjoyed a seasonably warm weekend despite some fog and overcast skies on Saturday and patchy clouds on Sunday.

The inconsistent wind—both in terms of velocity and direction—made the race committee led by Liz Isdale work extra hard to get in 81 races, just nine shy of two full rotations. It also kept the competitors on their toes with no race totally out of reach and many coming down to a fierce battle on the final run.

The combination of spinnakers, a gusty wind and the aggressive maneuvering that is required to be successful in the 2v2 format means that boat handling is at a premium. Shiber said that this is where the regular practice paid off most.

“We practice on Saturday and Sunday mornings against the best male and female team racers at St Francis,” said Shiber. “Lindsey, Elena [Vanderberg], and Helen [Lord] and I sail together a lot, and so does the group on the other boat. Whatever move Lindsey wants to pull, we’re confident in our execution. I think that really helps in those tight moments. If you can pull off a move and the other boat can’t, then you just can have a lot more confidence.”

Event information – Team rosters – Results

St. Francis Yacht Club, 2025 Women’s 2v2 Team Race Champions: Molly Carapiet (skipper), Rosalind Meade, Meg Myles, McKenzie Wilson, Lindsey Baab (skipper), Helen Lord, Kate Shiber (team captain) and Elena Vanderberg (not in order of photo).