Paul Cayard Wins Rolex Yachtsman of the Year
On Thursday, February 12, US Sailing took over the famed New York Yacht Club trophy room to announce the winners of the 2025 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards. Paul Cayard was named the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, while Laura Grondin was named the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. Mirroring his recent second win of the Star Worlds, this is Cayard’s second time at the podium as Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.
The awards recognize exceptional accomplishments in the sport of sailing over the past calendar year. The selection process involved a vote by past Rolex Award winners and prominent members of the sailing media.
A seasoned veteran on the racing scene, Paul Cayard has no shortage of titles to his name. His mainstay has been the Star class, where in 2025 he won the World Championship, triumphing over a fleet of 100-plus boats in Split, Croatia. This championship win is Cayard’s second Star World title, coming 37 years after his first Worlds win in 1988. He also placed third at the Star North American Championship. Outside of Star sailing, Cayard is an accomplished tactician, winning the Voiles de Saint-Tropez on Twin Soul B.
Outside his accomplishments in 2025, for which he was awarded the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, Cayard is one of the most experienced American sailors to date. He has competed in the Olympics, America’s Cup, and Whitbread Round the World Race (now The Ocean Race), winning the Louis Vuitton Cup aboard the Italian Il Moro di Venezia in 1992 and Whitbread aboard EF Language in 1998. He competed in the 2004 Olympics in the Star class for the United States, placing fifth overall. Since then, Cayard has been involved in the management side of the sport, serving as the director of America One Racing and president of the International Star Class.
Laura Grondin — Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year
Laura Grondin proved herself a formidable competitor in the world of sport keelboats in 2025 with her team Dark Energy. Grondin made history as the first female helm to win the J/70 World Championship this past year, with the title coming down to the last moments of the final race. Grondin also finished second at the Melges 24 World Championship, overcoming a collision and two DNFs early in the regatta. This is her first Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year win, although she was a nominee in 2021 and 2022.
Outside her accomplishments in 2025, for which she was awarded the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, Grondin has had prior success in the J/70 fleet, finishing third at the World Championship in 2021 and 2023. She is a former International Melges 24 Class chair and is one of the class’s most accomplished female owner-drivers, consistently demonstrating competitive excellence and leadership both on and off the water.
“The Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year awards represent the very highest standard of excellence in our sport,” remarked Charlie Enright, US Sailing CEO. “Having been fortunate enough to receive this honor myself, I know how meaningful it is — not just as recognition of results, but as acknowledgment of the dedication, teamwork and resilience required to succeed at the highest level of sailing. This year’s winners truly exemplify what makes American sailing world class.”
You’ll find many familiar names of West Coast sailors on the list of past Rolex winners, including Stan Honey, Sally (Lindsay) Honey, past Star world champion Mark Reynolds and many more. Below you can see the whole list of Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the year recipients since 1961.
Past Winners:
2024 – Ian Barrows and Hans Henken/Cole Brauer
2023 – Charlie Enright/Christina Wolfe
2022 – Ravi Parent/Daniela Moroz
2021 – Harry Melges IV/Daniela Moroz
2020 – Not awarded
2019 – Mike Martin and Adam Lowry/Daniela Moroz
2018 – Jud Smith/Carmen and Emma Cowles
2017 – Peter Duncan/Erika Reineke
2016 – Caleb Paine/Daniela Moroz
2015 – Steve Benjamin/Annie Haeger
2014 – Terry Hutchinson/Stephanie Roble
2013 – Brian Porter/Jody Starck
2012 – Johnny Heineken/Jen French
2011 – Bill Hardesty/Anna Tunnicliffe
2010 – Stan Honey/Anna Tunnicliffe
2009 – Bora Gulari/Anna Tunnicliffe
2008 – Terry Hutchinson/Anna Tunnicliffe
2007 – Jeff Linton/Sally Barkow
2006 – Jud Smith/Paige Railey
2005 – Nick Scandone/Sally Barkow
2004 – Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham/Jody Swanson
2003 – Augie Diaz/Hannah Swett
2002 – John Kostecki/Liz Baylis
2001 – Steve Fossett/Cory Sertl
2000 – Mark Reynolds and Magnus Liljedahl/JJ Isler and Pease Glaser
1999 – Eric Doyle/Dawn Riley
1998 – Paul Cayard /Betsy (Gelenitis) Alison
1997 – Chris Larson/JJ Isler
1996 – Dave Ullman/Courtenay (Becker) Dey
1995 – Ed Baird/Cory Sertl
1994 – Ken Read/Danielle Brennan
1993 – Cam Lewis/Betsy (Gelenitis) Alison
1992 – Kevin Mahaney/Julia Trotman
1991 – Ed Adams/JJ Isler
1990 – Jim Brady/Courtenay Becker
1989 – Larry Klein/Jody Swanson
1988 – John Kostecki/Allison Jolly and Lynne Jewell
1987 – Ed Adams/Susan Dierdorff Taylor
1986 – Dennis Conner/JJ Isler
1985 – Ken Read/Kathy Steele and Heidi Backus
1984 – Bill Buchan/Betsy Gelenitis
1983 – Dave Curtis/Wendy Thomson
1982 – Randy Smyth/Betsy Gelenitis
1981 – Dave Curtis/Betsy Gelenitis
1980 – Dennis Conner/Lynne Jewell
1979 – Ted Turner/Nell Taylor
1978 – Buddy Melges/Bonnie Shore
1977 – Ted Turner/Jan O’Malley
1976 – Lowell North/Allison Jolly
1975 – Dennis Conner/Joan Ellis
1974 – Ted Hood/Sally Lindsay
1973 – Ted Turner/Sally Lindsay
1972 – Buddy Melges/Jane Pegel
1971 – Ding Schoonmaker/Jane Pegel
1970 – Ted Turner/Jan O’Malley
1969 – Robert F. Johnson/Jan O’Malley
1968 – Lowell North/June Methot
1967 – Bus Mosbacher/Betty Foulk
1966 – Bill Cox/Jerie Clark
1965 – Dick Tillman/Timothea (Schneider) Larr
1964 – Bob Bavier/Jane Pegel
1963 – Joe Duplin/Leggie Mertz
1962 – Bus Mosbacher/Sue Sinclair
1961 – Buddy Melges/Timothea Schneider
Come to the Latitude 38 Spring Crew Party, March 5
Latitude 38 will be hosting our 2026 Spring Crew List Party on March 5, at Golden Gate Yacht Club, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
While our Fall Crew Party is geared toward the cruising crowd as the cruising season kicks off, the Spring Crew Party has racers in mind. Are you a racer who is trying to figure out what boat(s) you should race on this season? What about a new-to-town racer trying to make connections and get out on the water? Are you new to the sport and want to get your feet wet in some beer can racing? What about boat owners who need to fill out their crew for the season? Are you just looking for buddies to get out on the Bay with and have a good time?
If any of these questions fit you, you should come on down to the Latitude 38 Spring Crew Party! We’re looking to connect sailors with skippers for the upcoming racing season — or to just get out on the water and have fun! Mingle with other sailors and boat owners to find your next sailing opportunity, or your newest crew member. It’s a constant struggle for so many boat owners to find consistent crew for their race programs, and there is no shortage of good sailors in the Bay Area looking for an opportunity to go racing. The challenge is just connecting them.
In addition to great company, drinks will be available for purchase at the GGYC bar, and the Casablanca Mediterranean food truck will be on site for the evening. Of course you’ll get to hang out with the (if we do say so ourselves) super-cool Latitude 38 team and pick up the March print edition of Latitude, which will be newly printed by the time the party rolls around.
Tickets are $10, and the link to buy them is here.
You can also find the link to buy tickets on our website, and in the Linktree on our social media pages.
Whether you’re new to sailing or a seasoned pro, everyone is welcome. Come as you are!
Get Paid to Sail at Modern Sailing
Alan Olson Receives Tall Ships America Lifetime Achievement Award
Call of the Sea founder Alan Olson was awarded Tall Ships America’s Lifetime Achievement Award on February 11 at the 2026 Annual Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships, held in Chula Vista. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has dedicated their life’s work to getting people to sea under sail and has worked to preserve the traditions and skills of sail training. Alan Olson has done exactly that. The award was presented to Alan by Tall Ships America president Simon Colley.
Alan received the award for “over 70 years of service to creating sail training opportunities for young people, particularly for youth with financial difficulties. Whether in terms of nautical miles traveled or youth served, Olson is among the most prolific sail trainers in American history. Olson’s reputation is built on delivering high-quality learning opportunities through curiosity-driven and evidence-based programs that provide transformative experiences for young people. Through Call of the Sea, he has labored tirelessly to create an equitable, welcoming, and empowering community for many volunteers, staff, and crew that worked for the organization. Olson’s builds and restorations (Stone Witch, Maramel, Matthew Turner among them) have been key vessels in the Pacific sail training fleet,”
“The Tall Ships America Sail Training Awards recognize the achievement and contribution of individuals and programs involved in the work and the community of sail training and tall ships. Each year we recognize strong leadership, extra effort, significant impact, and steadfast commitment to our collective work. Receiving a Tall Ships America Award is a high honor and celebration of the people dedicated to the principle that experience under sail strengthens character through authentic challenge.”
This is Alan’s second Tall Ships America award, the first being the 2018 Leadership Award. We join the sailing community in congratulating Alan on his award and on his lifetime of work in making sailing and tall ships accessible to the wider public.
Tune in to our Good Jibes podcast, Alan Olson on Building Tall Ships.
You can see other Tall Ships America award recipients here.
‘Natural Nine’ Wins SDYC’s 2026 Islands Race
On February 6 and 7 Patrick and Mark Nichols, on their Rogers 46 Natural Nine, won the 16th edition of the Islands Race, jointly run by San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) and Newport Harbor Yacht Club (NHYC). The winners finished the race in 19:23:17 of elapsed time, correcting out to 21:11:42, good for first place both in their ORR-C division and overall.
“This year’s fleet spanned boats in six classes ranging from 27 to 68 feet and represented a variety of designs and performance profiles,” the SDYC press release says of the race participants and course this year. “While traditionally routed around the Channel Islands, including Catalina and San Clemente, the 2026 course was shortened to an approximately 107-nautical-mile race rounding Catalina Island only due to anticipated light wind conditions. The adjustment was made to keep the fleet moving and ensure a timely finish — a practical call for skippers and crews balancing offshore ambitions with a Super Bowl Sunday finish window. This course was last used in the 2019 Islands Race.”
Though light winds were forecast, and generally arrived, conditions were better across the board than had been feared.
“We had a great day out there, much better than what the forecast predicted,” NHYC PRO Charlie Welsh says of the racing, per the SDYC press release. “We had five great starts, and four OCS across all starts. That’s a bummer on a long-distance race, but they fixed it and made the most of it. We appreciate all the competitors that made it out for the event.”
“The Islands course was conceived to be a warm-up for the two classic West Coast offshore races to Mexico: the Cabo Race hosted by Islands co-host NHYC and SDYC’s own Puerto Vallarta Race,” says SDYC waterfront director Jeff Johnson, again per the press release. “Leg one for Islands is a 20nm sprint WSW to Catalina’s west end. It’s usually a fetch and almost immediately crosses the L.A. Harbor Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) that is equivalent to a major maritime highway. With a more westerly wind, the expectation is to zip across the Catalina channel and be around the west end in just a couple hours. This year, the event was dominated by a light southerly breeze. But after the start, Mother Nature offered more breeze than expected and most of the fleet was around the west end by 1730.”
The team on Natural Nine, along with many of the other racers, were using the race as a warm-up for the main event that is the Puerto Vallarta race later in the month.
“We came in looking to dial in the boat and have fun,” says Patrick Nichols of the winning boat, per the press release. “Plus, this is a preparation race for the PV Race at the end of the month. Going into this race, the forecast was really tough. We came in trying to maximize all of the options that we had — put up some new sails, work on our crew work — and it just worked out.”
“What surprised me was the wind being kind of on the nose,” Mark Nichols, Natural Nine’s co-owner, says per the press release. “There was a lot of upwind work, which we weren’t expecting, but it was really fun. Every time we came up, I was like ‘great.’”
You can find the full results for the 2026 Islands Race here.
The 2026 Puerto Vallarta Race is set to start on February 26 out of San Diego.
Coyote Point YC Hosts Winter Sail #3
Super Bowl Sunday arrived with another cautious forecast and an optimistic plan: a long,10-mile idea of a course, designed for sailors who hoped to finish in time for kickoff. Ventus took up rabbit duties and eased the fleet into a light-air beginning, the boats moving as if they were thinking things over. Surprise!, Ventus, and Svea traded glances near the front early, while Sweet Grapes and Paradigm worked patiently from behind, measuring tide, angle and time.
Surprise! found the first real opening and rounded C ahead, stretching toward Z with purpose. Ventus followed, Svea close enough to keep the pressure honest. Paradigm quietly improved position, slipping past Sweet Grapes with the course — and expectations — trimmed to a familiar C-Z-C-Z-8 run home. Even then, there was talk of making it shorter still.
Then the Bay changed its mind. The breeze arrived with conviction, touching the mid-20s and turning hesitation into action. Sails filled, wakes lengthened, and suddenly everyone was sailing again. The entire fleet finished, rewarded for sticking it out.
On corrected time, Surprise! took the win, followed by Svea, Paradigm, Ventus and Sweet Grapes — proof that Sunday still has surprises left, if you wait long enough.
Gift the Gift of True Love this Valentine’s Day
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