I have to admit that, after spending most of September and a good part of early October on the road, I’m delighted to be home, sitting in front of my computer with its big screen (much easier on my tired eyes than a laptop), working through the pile of stories that have piled up, because I’m not very good at writing while traveling.
And I hope you’ll excuse me, but I feel inspired to write about an event I attended about a month ago, because I believe the first edition of the New York Yacht Club International Women’s Championship, presented by State Street Investment Management and SPY, which took place September 12–19 at the club’s headquarters, Harbour Court, in Newport, Rhode Island, deserves to be celebrated. Even if I’m a month late! It’s important because the regatta brought together 20 all-female teams from around the world, who sailed on the NYYC’s fleet of 37-foot (11.3-meter) IC37 keelboats. The racing was top-notch. And so was the list of sponsors: Rolex as a founding partner, Helly Hansen as the regatta sponsor, and Tiffany & Co. and Palm Beach Motor Yachts as official suppliers.
But I think the best thing about the International Women’s Championship is that it brought together many of the world’s best sailors—from nearly every high-performance class—in one place for a five-day regatta. And many teams echoed the sentiments expressed by Lisa Ross of the Canadian team Kairos Racing before the competition began: “We’re excited to compete in the IC37 fleet and about the platform it offers our athletes, which puts their teamwork, communication, and technical skills to the test. The Championship is creating a space for female sailors to excel both on and off the water.”
That’s exactly what happened. Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick’s Team Vigilant got off to a strong start but proved surprisingly vulnerable as it battled a dying breeze in the final three races. Its finishes of sixth, seventh, and tenth were the worst of the 10 races. But after four days of flawless sailing, her scores from the final day were more than enough to secure victory in this historic regatta.
“When we started the project, the goal was to win this event,” said Stephanie Roble, tactician for Team Vigilant. “But there’s so much more to it than that. Over the past few years, we’ve focused a lot on the process of becoming the best versions of ourselves so we could compete here and be the best. It’s been a very rewarding process as a team, and there have been many ups and downs over the course of two years of training. We’re very proud that everything came together at just the right moment.”
Meanwhile, the battle for second place was a roller coaster ride, with Michelle Lahrkamp of Team Fair American finishing in second place and Hannah Swett and Team MO-Amundsen in third.
“Our team is all about the Corinthians spirit,” said Lahrkamp. “I think what really brings us together is how hard we work and how well we gel. Our communication is excellent. We all want to improve every day. So, after the first and second days, we kept getting better, constantly fine-tuning certain things. And we’ve been having very productive discussions. That paid off yesterday and today, when we were able to really fine-tune our performance, securing two top-three finishes and a top-10 finish to round out the day. Everything fell into place.”
Hannah Swett explained: “Heading into the final day, with eight boats still in contention for the podium, we had to perform well. We did really well in the first race. Then, oh my goodness, we had a disaster in the second one. But in the third, we took advantage of the shifting winds, and credit goes to my entire team for keeping the boat moving. It was a very tough day. But we finished strong.”
“I had never sailed with many of the women on Team Vigilant before, and I absolutely loved (obviously) sailing with them,” said Grapengeter-Rudnick. “I hope we’ll be friends for life, teammates for life, and that we’ll have other opportunities to sail together in the future.”