The Corinthian Yacht Club’s fifth annual National Women’s Invitational Team Race for the Thayer Trophy took place outside Marblehead Harbor over the weekend. It is the first and only three-versus-three women’s regatta in keelboats with spinnakers. Six teams came from across the United States and England.
Marblehead’s Eastern Yacht Club finished second, after Newport Harbor Yacht Club of California.
Tied with Eastern Yacht Club and facing two-time Thayer winner New York Yacht Club, Newport Harbor team captain Carolyn Smith said they approached that last race with the same mindset as any other. “We were just focusing on strong communication, and positive vibes.”
In fact, Smith said she didn’t even think about it being a must-win. After almost getting flipped backward out of the boat when a big gust at the start caused her boat to round up hard, Smith and her crew recovered quickly and focused on the fact that their other two boats started strong. Their team ended up running away with a one-two position, which they held and extended from mark one through to the finish.
“That can actually be super stressful because you’re just hoping you don’t lose that first-second position,” Smith said.
During the awards ceremony, event chair Miranda Bakos reflected on the extremes the teams sailed in across the three-day event. Friday, the wind speeds were gusting in the high 20s. Saturday was light and shifty with wind hovering around 5 miles per hour with significant current. Sunday was a smorgasbord of light to moderate sea breeze for the first half of the day that eventually shifted nearly 180 degrees and built to deliver some white-knuckle sailing.
“Besides the straight-up team racing, your boat handling, especially crew work with the spinnakers, was incredible,” Bakos told the crowd assembled on the Corinthian Yacht Club porch overlooking Marblehead Harbor.
Event details, including results and photos, can be found at thayertrophy.com
Editor Leigh Blander is an experienced TV, radio and print journalist.
