With winds gusting into the 20s and double-point scoring evening the playing field for the finals, a strong New York Yacht Club team sealed the deal in the last 10 yards of a dramatic race against Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association to win the 2024 National Women’s Invitational Team Race for the Thayer Trophy hosted by Marblehead’s Corinthian Yacht Club.
New York YC came into the second day with six wins and only two losses. PRO Will Bailey and his race committee team held80% of the first two round robins on day one, and although there were still five races to left to sail to determine the top four, New York had punched their ticket to the finals.
After a long wind delay Sunday morning, the breeze began to fill from the south and built steadily to 15 knots with gusts in the low 20s. That made things particularly sporty on the downwind legs. Racing was tight, spinnaker-handling mistakes were costly and there were plenty of opportunities for conversions.
All of that came into play in the final race between Chesapeake and New York. Winning positions changed multiple times in the last few minutes of the race. Chesapeake had a tenuous 2, 3, 4 combination a stone’s throw from the finish when New York went on the attack, forcing one of the Chesapeake boats to duck and slowing another enough to barely eke out a 1, 4, 5 to win the race and the event.
“Boat handling was key as the wind came up,” said New York Team Captain Emily Maxwell. “There were definitely moments when that was a challenge. Our team really had to stay focused.”
The loss was costly for Chesapeake as Marblehead’s Eastern Yacht Club came on strong in the finals to edge them out on points to take third overall. Newport Harbor Yacht Club took second, two wins behind New York.
The Thayer Trophy honors Corinthian’s Joan and Elynore “Elli” Thayer’s significant contributions to women’s sailing: Joan as a passionate one-design skipper and organizer of the National Women’s Sailing Association Conference, and Elli as the first women skipper in the 110 Class and Marblehead Racing Association officer for more than 20 years.
Corinthian Yacht Club Women’s National Invitational Team Race For The Thayer Trophy 2024 Final Results:
1st New York Yacht Club
2nd Newport Harbor Yacht Club
3rd Eastern Yacht Club
4th Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association
5th Royal Thames Yacht Club
6th Corinthian Yacht Club
In other news, the Fast Mermaid Pursuit Race on Sunday marked its third year as a fundraiser for Lindsay Smith, daughter of 10-time world champion and two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Jud Smith. Lindsay was a victim of domestic violence when leaving her job at Doyle One Design in Salem in November 2021 when her ex-boyfriend shot her at close range.
All net proceeds from the regatta go to the Fast Mermaid Fund to aid her ongoing rehabilitation and physical therapy at Project Walk in Boston.
Before the shooting, Lindsay, who is a graduate of Smith College, was working at Doyle One Design in Salem and campaigning an all-women’s Etchells team called Fast Mermaid. Her sailmaker father had fashioned a pink spinnaker for the team, and inspired by a youngsters’ love of mermaids, they fashioned a pink mermaid logo on the sail.
Lindsey Smith was able to race this year’s regatta with her Fast Mermaid team. The race was divided into one design and a PHRF spinnaker and non-spinnaker class. The PHRF winner in the spinnaker class was Jud Smith.
