2025 Women’s Winter Invitational

Host San Diego Yacht Club won the 7th edition of the Women’s Winter Invitational held February 15-16 in San Diego, CA. Twenty-four teams from across the USA, Canada, and Mexico competed in J/22s, with the home club nipping defending champion California Yacht Club by a half-point, with 2023 winner New York Yacht Club in third. The winning team was Rebecca McElvain with crew Erika Barth and Julie Mitchell.

Event details: https://sailing.sdyc.org/racing/event/womens-winter-invitational25/

The Women’s Winter Invitational Regatta began in 2018, as a grass roots women’s event in the club-owned J/22s with the hope of establishing a prominent regatta for women sailors, attracting women of all ages and across generations. In 2022, the regatta won the US Sailing One Design Regatta Award.

The format is a two-day round-robin-type event; with teams rotating boats after each race and giant inflatable flamingos standing in for “normal” windward and leeward race marks. Each 10-minute race has a four boat fleet start, with the object being to race as many races in Stage 1 as time and wind allow for on the first day and a half of the regatta.

On day two, the top 12 teams are split into Gold (1st-6th) and Silver fleets (7th-12th place). Stage 1 finalists carry over a race win total bonus into the final. Each fleet sails three to five races to complete the regatta, and the winning team is crowned.

The WWIR has grown into a highly competitive international event while still remaining true to its roots. Limited to 24 teams, teams must apply for acceptance to compete. Clubs require a qualification sail off event to select a team to apply. The regatta continues to grow in popularity with a waiting list of 12 teams this year.

The breeze kicked in on day one after a short postponement, and the short racecourse was quickly established. Support crew helped with the quick turnaround on the dock, meaning that the race committee, led by Becky Ashburn, was able to crank out 45 races with little delay.

The protest committee was kept busy, hearings administered by Kim Kymlicka with 3-minute justice. At the end of the first day, the San Diego, Bristol, and New York teams led with the lowest average points. The shift was then made to a competitors’ dinner with karaoke and dancing.

A longer shoreside postponement on the second race day meant that teams would groan at commentator Craig Leweck’s jokes. Luckily the wind turned on and despite a lighter forecast, shifty winds of 15 -17 knots arrived. Twenty more races were completed in the opening series before the top 12 competitors were split into gold/silver fleets for a 3-race Finals.

The spectator section cheered as Santa Barbara Yacht Club, who entered the Petite Finals in last position, won the first two races and came out on top in the Silver Fleet.

SDYC skipper, Rebecca McElvain, with crew Julie Mitchell and Erika Barth, entered the Gold fleet in first, but California and New York Yacht Club, both previous winners of this event, were right on their heels. A different team won each race in the gold round. SDYC was over early in race 2, finished the race in 5th, but fought their way to a second place in the other two races.

The final race began with just 1 point separating the top 3 teams. After battling the wind shifts across the course, Cal crossed the line in first, but SDYC was still half a point ahead and claimed the overall win. This is the first time the home team won the regatta, and the girls celebrated by jumping in the water.

Source: SDYC