Field set for Women’s Championship

Noroton Yacht Club (Darien, CT) has selected twelve skippers for the 2026 Susan Widmann Sinclair Women’s Championship to be sailed in Sonars May 16-17. Skippers were selected on a resume basis and the list of selectees includes former Sinclair champions and leading woman sailors from across North America and Bermuda.

The event expanded from eight teams in 2025, with the 2026 field including the three podium finishers from the 2025 Sinclair including the winner Carmen Cowles, Katrina Williams who finished second, and Erin Maxwell who placed third.

Full list:
Torrey Chisari – Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club
Carmen Cowles – Larchmont Yacht Club
Michelle Lahrkamp – American Yacht Club
Erin Maxwell – Noroton Yacht Club
Megan Ploch – American Yacht Club
Heidi Backus Riddle – Vermillion Boat Club
Catherine Shanahan – Bristol Yacht Club
Allie Tsai – Long Beach Yacht Club
Derby White – California Yacht Club
Casey Williams – Boston Yacht Club
Katrina Williams – Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Bermuda
Sarah Young – San Francisco Yacht Club

The 2025 winning team led by Carmen Cowles, and the 2026 winning team Skipper will receive invitations to compete in the New York Yacht Club 2027 Joan H. Towse Trophy at the Women’s Championship.

Also returning for the 2026 Sinclair Championship are the Race Officials who ran the previous two editions of the championship: Shannon Bush as Principal Race Officer (International Race Officer, accomplished Etchells helm) and Jan O’Malley as Chief Judge (National Judge, recent inductee into the National Sailing Hall of Fame, and three-time US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year).

The regatta was first sailed in 2023 having recognized the demand for more national-level women’s keelboat regattas. This championship is named for Sue Sinclair, a championship sailor who called Noroton Yacht Club her home for her lifetime. The inaugural Sinclair Championship was won by Sara Morgan Watters, Gloria Kevliciute, Catherine Shannahan, and Sophie Taczak.

Detail: https://norotonyc.org/regatta/PIOqcX38T1