Texas Corinthian Yacht Club repeats as Grandmasters Team Race Champions
by New York Yacht Club 24 Aug 10:29 BST
August 21-23, 2026
The little yacht club that could did it again, winning the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race for the fourth time in the past six years.
Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, a small family-oriented club in Kemah, Texas, was at its best on Day 1 of the three-day regatta, when the breeze gusted into the 20s. Reveling in the familiar conditions, TCYC opened the regatta with seven straight wins.
"Galveston Bay is typically 15 to 17 knots of sea breeze with chop, so we have a lot more experience with that," said Gerard Coleman, one of the team's skippers. "The light air is challenging for many reasons. The lighter the air, the more difficult racing becomes for us."
Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club was able to equal TCYC's win total in the first round robin, but lost a point and a half after a collision that resulted in a broken mast and was relegated to second place in the overall standings. Ida Lewis Yacht Club finished third with five wins and four losses and then five teams notched identical 4-5 records, necessitating a deep dive into the tie-break protocol to award fourth place to St. Francis Yacht Club and fifth to the Storm Trysail Club.
"I think we were very blessed because we did start off in weather that we're very familiar with, and, unfortunately, we didn't get to sail today or as much yesterday," said TCYC captain Clark Thompson. "And I think it could have easily been the exact opposite results [from Friday] today or yesterday. The teams are all very, very equal."
The New York Yacht Club helped usher in a new era of adult team racing with the creation of the New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Commodore George R. Hinman Masters Trophy in 2000. That race, which requires skippers to be at least 45 years of age and crew to be over 40, was soon followed by the New York Yacht Club Invitational Team Race Regatta for the Morgan Cup, an all-ages event, in 2003 and, in 2010, the New York Yacht Club Grandmasters Team Race Regatta, which mandates skippers be at least 60 years of age and crew at least 50. In 2025, the Club added the New York Yacht Club Great Grandmasters Team Race Regatta to the schedule, for skippers 70 or older and crew 60 or older. The four team races are traditionally held each August at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, using the Club's fleet of 22 Sonar keelboats, and annually attract some of the best adult team racers in the United States and Europe. New York Yacht Club Regatta Association's 2026 regatta season is supported by Helly Hansen.
The 15th edition of the Grandmasters Team Race got off to an exciting start on Friday with a northerly breeze that was consistently in the upper teens and gusted much higher. The race committee flew the K flag, which kept the spinnakers in the bag all day. But there was still plenty of action on the course as teams struggled to keep their Sonars on their feet and the maintenance team battled to keep the boats in working order.
Though the wind direction was similar on Saturday, the boisterous breeze from the previous day was replaced by a fickle zephyr that required a lot of patience on the part of the race committee and the competitors. The race committee still managed to finish Round Robin 1 and start on a second round robin with the hope of finishing that today.
But conditions were even worse with no wind in the morning and then a passing downpour that all but scuttled any hope of completing Round Robin 2. With time winding down, the race committee tried to put the top two teams through a best-of-three championship series, but even that effort proved in vain as what looked like a promising southerly evaporated as fast as it appeared. The nine completed races of Round Robin 2 were discarded and TCYC was named the winner based on the results from Round Robin 1.
"It feels really good," said Ross. "We've been doing this for many years now, and it's great to be able to sail with such good colleagues. It's just wonderful to be up here in this great spot and to do well."
Consistency has been a hallmark of the TCYC program. Ross, Coleman and Thompson have skippered in each of the past six editions of the Grandmasters Team Race, earning the four wins and two second-place finishes. And this year's team was identical to the crew that won in 2025, with one exception. But the credit goes much deeper than just the 12 sailors on the roster.
"We have a very small team of team racers at our club, which is also very small by comparison," said Thompson. "So we're fortunate to have a lot of people behind this. Our boats are individually owned, and our owners are very gracious to make them available for the team racers to use for practice. And our club gets behind us. We've gotten text messages from people the entire weekend. It's not just the people that are here. It's truly a club effort."
The New York Yacht Club will wrap up its August team racing schedule with the Great Grandmasters Team Race on August 27 and 28. New York Yacht Club won the inaugural edition last August. The inaugural Women's International Championship and the Resolute Cup will close out the 2026 season. The full schedule of regattas can be found here.
Overall Results:
1. Texas Corinthian Yacht Club, Kemah, Texas (7-2);
2. Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, Centre Island, N.Y., (7-2)*;
3. Ida Lewis Yacht Club, Newport, R.I. (5-4)
4. St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, Calif. (4-5);
5. Storm Trysail Club, Larchmont, N.Y., (4-5);
6. Larchmont (N.Y.) Yacht Club (4-5);
7. Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Newport Beach, Calif. (4-5);
8. New York Yacht Club Lotz (4-5)**;
9. Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans, La., (3-6);
10. New York Yacht Club Altreuter (3-6).
*1.5 points deducted due to protest results
**1 point deducted due to protest results
Winning Team: Gerard Coleman (skipper), Marjorie Crawford, Sam Pyne, Randy Roberston, Gary Ross (skipper & team captain), Ann Graham, Joel Scott, Chris Stacy, Clark Thompson (skipper), Mary Milby, Pierce Owens, Paul Thompson
Round Robin Results