Applications Open for the 2023 David Storrs Match Racing Grant Program

We recently received a press release from US Sailing, offering sailors $5,000 to go sailing. Sounds cool, right?

The press release said, “Do you want $5,000 to travel the country with your teammates and friends to match race? Are you a US-based sailor between the ages of 19 and 29? Do you want to feel the rush of putting a vessel with tonnage on a collision course with another boat? If you answered yes to these questions, then the David Storrs Match Racing Grant Program can help provide an epic summer of sailing for you!” Check it out here.

The US Sailing application describes the founding of the grant: “In 2019, one of the greats of Match Racing, David Storrs, passed on to calm seas and fair weather. David was not only a solid match-racing competitor, he became a champion. He climbed to the position of #1 American and #13 in the World on the World Sailing Match Racing Ranking. He was on the podium often but was happiest in October of 2017 when, at age 73 years, he won the final match in the US Match Racing Championship to claim the Prince of Wales Bowl. In his will, David left a generous gift to the US Sailing Match Racing Committee that has made this grant program possible.”

The West Coast is home to numerous match-racing champions, including 2021 Women’s Match Racing Champion Nicole Breault. San Francisco Bay is also home to match-racing champion Liz Baylis, the executive director of the Women’s International Match Racing Series. San Diego’s Taylor Canfield won the Men’s World Match Racing Tour in 2019.

If you want to join other West Coast champions, the application process is open and runs through March 15.