San Diego Yacht Club Hosts 2021 U.S. Women's Championship

San Diego Yacht Club is the host of the 2021 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship. The San Diego Yacht Club and US Sailing invited 10 teams to Southern California to compete in the 2021 U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship.

The event took place along the San Diego city front in San Diego Bay near the Grape Street pier. The event format consists of Round Robin(s), Knock-out Series, and a Finals Series.

Betsy Alison, Adult Sailing Director at US Sailing, commented last week, "The caliber of racing at this event will be high. The ten teams competing are skilled and eager to take it to the racecourse. Game on! It is likely that the battle will continue well into the Finals. I hope our match racing aficionados will follow this event closely."

What is the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship?

The U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship developed from the U.S. Women's Open Championship regatta that was established in 1974 for fleet racing in doublehanded and singlehanded divisions.

A boardsailing championship was added in 1981. In 2000, a motion to shift the event from fleet racing to match racing was passed and the first U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship was held at Southern Yacht Club (New Orleans, LA.) in 2002.

The Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy is awarded to the winner and the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Memorial Trophy is presented to the runner-up.

Championship Sailing in San Diego

Nicole Breault and the team representing the St. Francis Yacht Club — including Molly Carapiet, Karen Loutzenheiser, and Julie Mitchell won Sunday’s Finals match-up against Janel Zarkowsky and the Scuttlebutt Sailing Club team featuring Annabelle Ayer, Madeline Gill, and Rose Edwards. They won 3-0 capping an undefeated competition.

The win for Breault marks her fourth career win at the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship. The four-time champion skipper earned this title in 2018, 2016, and 2015. Carapiet and Loutzenheiser sailed with Breault in all four championship runs. 

“Our teamwork sailing the J/22s has been refined over the years,” stated Breault. “We were solid and could get our heads out of the boat to account for a lot of the fleet racing factors that happen in match racing. Transitioning from light to windier conditions and reacting to pressure was the key to speed.”