Please select your home edition
Edition
Musto 2023 Hikers LEADERBOARD

San Diego Yacht Club wins the 2025 Women's Winter Invitational Regatta

by San Diego Yacht Club 21 Feb 00:07 GMT February 14-16, 2025

San Diego Yacht Club has clinched the 2025 crown for the Women's Winter Invitational Regatta, hosted by San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC).

The weekend festivities kicked off on Friday, February 14 with a lovely welcome reception, which gave competitors the opportunity to meet. The women enjoyed drinks from Mount Gay Rum, Maui Brewing, and Bivouac Ciders - all amazing partners with SDYC.

Saturday's breeze kicked in after a short postponement, and the short racecourse was quickly established alongside the docks, with large inflatable windward and leeward pink flamingos for the 24 teams to sail around. Teams raced in fleets of four per race start, after each race, the teams rotated J/22's to keep the playing field far.

Support crew helped with the quick turnaround on the dock, meaning that the race committee, led by IRO Becky Ashburn, was able to crank out 45 races with little delay on the first day of racing. The protest committee was kept busy with 8 hearings, all administered by Kim Kymlicka with 3-minute justice, so the sailors could make it back out onto the water for their next race. At the end of the first day, the flamingos had gained hats and leis, the mimosa bar had run dry, and the San Diego, Bristol, and New York teams led the fleet with the lowest average points. Saturday night's competitors' dinner gave teams a chance to unwind together with karaoke and dancing.

A longer shoreside postponement on the second race day meant that teams could continue to show off their karaoke skills and groan at commentator Craig Leweck's knock-knock jokes. Luckily the wind turned on before he could dig too deeply into the dad-joke reserve. Despite a lighter forecast, Sunday brought shifty winds of 15 -17kts. 20 more races were completed in the opening series, and then the top 12 competitors were split into gold/silver fleets for a 3-race Finals.

The spectator section grew, with the bottom 12 teams remaining on the docks with a perfect view of the race course. They cheered as Santa Barbara Yacht Club, who entered the Petite Finals in last position, won the first two races. Undeterred by their trimmer's accidental dip in the bay the previous day nor by their carryover points from the opening series, they came out on top in the Silver Fleet.

SDYC led the Gold fleet with only 0.5 carryover points, but California and New York Yacht Club, both previous winners of this event, were right on their heels. Each race in the gold round was won by a different team. SDYC was over early in race 2 but 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 just off the race docks.

SDYC's skipper, Rebecca McElvain was excited to be back in La Playa basin sailing around her old stomping grounds. Rebecca, Julie Mitchell and Erika Barth are no strangers to this course and were the champions of the Women's Winter Preview in January, winning them the opportunity to represent SDYC in this weekend's Invitational. Rebecca grew up in these waters and always appreciates the sunny winter sailing - something the east coast teams definitely don't get this time of year. Competitors from Annapolis Yacht Club shared stories of sailing in the snow, breaking icicles from the boom, and trying to defrost the sheets before tacking.

2025 Women's Winter Invitational final results available here.

Related Articles

Etchells North American Championship overall
Luke Lawrence and team win at San Diego Yacht Club The competitors for the Etchells North American Championship in San Diego left the dock Sunday morning for the final two races of the regatta with a lot of work still in front of them to determine the winner. Posted on 19 May
Etchells North American Championship day 2
Three more races held on Saturday The 2025 Etchells North American Championship continued with 3 more races on Saturday. Conditions were more favorable for racing today with wind in the 8 - 12 kt range. Posted on 18 May
Etchells North American Championship day 1
A strong day for Masfen, Cooke and Wilkinson give the NZL team top position Day one of the Etchells North American Championship started off under an AP flag with mostly cloudy skies. After an almost 90 minute delay, Race 1 got under way at 12:55 with a course bearing of 235 with 1.2 nm legs. Posted on 17 May
2025 Etchells North American Championship Preview
Racing set to Kick Off Friday May 16th in San Diego San Diego Yacht Club welcomes 39 teams competing in the 2025 Etchells North American Championships - a 3-day regatta May 16-18. Posted on 15 May
2025 Yachting Cup at San Diego YC overall
Awarding 7 class winners along with the overall award to J/24 Wharf Rat Day 2 of SDYC's Yachting Cup started with a bit of rain and overcast coastal skies. The race management team was concerned about the forecast conditions - specifically the sea state, which built as a result of an overnight offshore front. Posted on 5 May
2025 Yachting Cup at San Diego YC Day 1
Competitive racing with light conditions for the seven classes After all the concern about inclement weather and alternate plans... Day 1 of San Diego Yacht Club's Yachting Cup defied the forecasts. Posted on 4 May
SDYC hosts the 2025 Yachting Cup this weekend
Featuring one design and handicap classes racing Each year as the calendar flips to May, San Diego Yacht Club hosts the annual Yachting Cup regatta, featuring one design and handicap classes racing. Posted on 2 May
Jesberg Wins Etchells Orca Bowl
Busch/Madden Win Etchells West Coast Spring Series The Orca Bowl wrapped up the 2025 Etchells West Coast Spring Series on April 26-27 with a 5-race regatta sailed by 33 teams on the ocean course off of Point Loma in San Diego, CA. Posted on 29 Apr
2025 Etchells Midwinters West in San Diego
Chris Busch wins tight battle after a dynamic three days of racing The 2025 Etchells Midwinters West, hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club and sailed on the Coronado Roads, delivered a dynamic three days of racing, concluding the third leg of the West Coast Spring Series with a hard-fought victory by Chris Busch Posted on 1 Apr
Registration open for the 2025 Yachting Cup
San Diego's Premier Spring Regatta San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) is thrilled to announce that registration is now open for the highly anticipated 2025 Yachting Cup, San Diego's premier spring regatta. Posted on 4 Mar