History made at Optimist US Nationals

Canadian sailors rewrote the record books at the 2026 Optimist US National Championships held July 29-August 1 at Haven, NJ. With 354 competitors, Will Keilty of Kingston, Ontario, became at age 15 the first Canadian ever to win the championship, while teammate Tia Kinnear of Halifax became the first Canadian female sailor ever to win the Girls title.

Keilty’s win ends a quarter century of American dominance; not since 2001, when an Argentine sailor lifted the trophy, has a non-American won the event. Keilty posted eight race wins as well as two second-place results and a third-place finish across 12 races in a fleet from the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and Bermuda, discarding a sixth-place result as his worst placing.

When the final race was scored, his 15 net points left him a staggering 70 points clear of runner-up Margaux Nguyen-Minh of Hong Kong’s Aberdeen Boat Club, a margin virtually unheard of across a 12-race national championship.

“I’m mostly just relieved,” said Keilty. “I knew I could do it, but the last two years at the US Nationals, I fell out of first place on the final day, so to finally make it happen is a huge feeling of accomplishment for myself, my coaches, my clubs, and for Canada. I’m so happy to win in my final year of Optimist sailing.”

Kinnear struck first, winning the Girls US National Championship, a one-day, girls-only event held on July 28, the day before the mixed championship began. No Canadian girl had ever won the title. She then carried that form into the main event, placing 13th overall in the gold fleet.

“To be the first Canadian girl to win this championship means so much,” said Kinnear. “I hope it shows other Canadian girls what’s possible.”

These results continue a landmark year for Keilty. In May, Keilty became the first Canadian ever to win an International Optimist Dinghy Association championship, taking the 2026 Optimist North American title on Halifax Harbour against a 172-boat fleet after opening with a 41st-place finish and reeling off six consecutive race wins.

He then finished seventh at the 2026 Optimist World Championship in Tangier, Morocco, the best result by a Canadian in the event’s 64-year history.

“Two historic firsts in one week is proof of what our clubs, coaches, and youth programs are building together,” said Sail Canada’s High Performance Director, Anders Gustafsson. “To beat the deepest Optimist fleets in the world on their home waters is an extraordinary achievement.”

Details: https://www.usoda.org/regatta/lUgdYPewBC

Source: Sail Canada