Stanford Sails to Third-Straight Women’s Team Racing National Championship
On April 26 and 27, the Stanford Cardinal Sailing Team claimed their third-straight national championship in women’s team racing, in New Orleans, LA. The Cardinal posted a dominant 21-1 record, finishing three wins clear of the second-place Yale Bulldogs, who were 18-4. The regatta featured 15 different teams from around the country, with the vast majority being from the East Coast. Stanford was the lone West Coast team in attendance.
After finishing second at Women’s Team Racing Nationals on home water in 2023 (behind Yale), the Cardinal won in dominant fashion in 2024 on the Charles River in Boston. In 2025, they narrowly edged the Bulldogs in Rhode Island, and have now completed the trifecta.
The Cardinal’s team on the water comprised three senior skippers: Ellie Harned, Sophie Fisher, and two-time defending Women’s College Sailor of the Year Vanessa Lahrkamp. The crews on the water were juniors Kit Harned (sailing with her sister) and Alice Schmid (sailing with Lahrkamp), and sophomore Piper Blackband.
“It’s been awesome sailing with Ellie and Vanessa these last three years, so exciting to end our team-racing season together on a win,” Fisher tells us. “I’m so proud of this team and all of our hard work this year.”
“Such high-level team racing with great camaraderie,” Lahrkamp adds. “Race committee and umpires were troopers in the hot weather!”
“The team sailed really well,” Stanford head coach Chris Klevan adds. “The competition was extremely prepared and polished; the conditions made every race a challenge until the finish. Despite this, we maintained our poise and managed the challenge with grace.”
The Cardinal were dominant in the first round of the regatta, which saw all 15 teams sail each other once. Stanford went through the round undefeated, and finished all but one race in a play one (a one-two or a one-three finish in team racing), beating Bowdoin in a play two in the other race. Of their 13 play-one wins, nine of them were in the one-two. After the first round, the Cardinal’s closest competitors were Yale at 12-2 (losing to the Roger Williams Hawks as well as Stanford) and the Brown Bears at 11-3 (who lost to Stanford, Yale and College of Charleston).
The second round saw the top six teams advance. It was in that round that the Cardinal finally suffered a defeat, at the hands of Yale in a 1-2-5 combination. They beat Brown, Harvard, Dartmouth and Tufts in play ones to stay a win ahead of the Bulldogs, who dropped a race to Brown in the second round.
The final round then consisted of the top three teams. Stanford beat Harvard in a 1-2-6, Brown in a 1-2-4, and then Yale in a 2-3-4 to seal their third-straight national championship.
The regatta came immediately after the Cardinal had finished second out of 16 teams in the Open National Championship, also in New Orleans. The Cardinal were 17-8 in the open regatta, finishing five wins behind the now back-to-back Open Team Racing National Champion Harvard Crimson. In the open regatta, Lahrkamp and Schmid sailed for Stanford, and were joined by junior skippers Reade Decker and Thomas Sitzmann and their crews Callie Hammond and Abby Baird.
The win in Women’s Team Racing Nationals and second-place finish at Open Nationals puts the Cardinal in strong contention to claim the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy (awarded annually to the best overall team in college sailing) for the second-straight year.
Up next for the Cardinal will be the 2026 Open and Women’s Fleet Racing Nationals, hosted by the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, FL.
You can see the full scores from the 2026 college Women’s Team Racing National Championship here.
Good Jibes #241: Scott Easom on Racing and Rigging, With Host John Arndt
This week we chat with Scott Easom about his prolific career in racing and rigging. Scott is the owner of Easom Racing and Rigging, is the YRA Buoy Guy, and has more nautical miles to his name than just about anyone.
Tune in as Scott shares with Good Jibes host John Arndt how his family gave him the lifelong sailing bug at age 11, the most memorable boats and races from his racing career, the most common modifications racers are making to their yachts today, the behind-the-scenes of buoys on the Bay, and what’s changed the most in modern racing.
Here’s a small sample of what you will hear in this episode:
- Scott’s Olympic campaign in the Soling class in 1985–86
- Scott’s idea to extend the Three Bridge Fiasco into a multi-race series
- Races Scott would still like to do, like the MEXORC regatta
- The challenges with how PHRF handles electric winches and stored power
- The 2023 racing schedule for Pyewacket
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and your other favorite podcast spots — follow and leave a 5-star review if you’re feeling the Good Jibes!
Learn more about Scott on Instagram @EasomRacingAndRigging and Facebook at Easom Rigging & Racing.
Check out the episode and show notes for much more detail.
For More Great Sailing Stories, Tune In to Good Jibes
Good News on San Francisco Marina Dredging
After running our story about the San Francisco Marina Harbor dredging situation on Monday, we heard from the Department of Public Works that, in fact, they are not responsible for dredging and that San Francisco Recreation and Parks handles the marina dredging. The good news is that Rec and Parks has the dredging equipment from Dutra Group arriving on site today.
The recent silting of the harbor reminds us of how things seem to happen slowly and then happen all at once. Yes, the sand bank has been building up for quite a while and dredging plans were getting put in place, but the silting appeared to accelerate in the last three weeks.
The Bay is a dynamic place, so silting is a problem throughout the Bay Area. Keeping harbors and channels open is a constant problem, and resources to manage it can be scarce. Yesterday we read on the San Francisco Marina web page that the dredging was set to begin on Cinco de Mayo, which gives harbor tenants two good reasons to celebrate.
However, the website has since been updated to say equipment from Dutra Group is moving on site today. Dave Kresge was there to capture some photos to verify it! Our understanding from another harbor observer is that this initial equipment is clearing the way for even larger equipment that should arrive next week after completing another job.
The updated website states that dredging operations will be running from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., including weekends. Mariners are instructed to be in contact with dredge operators at least 15 minutes before hoping to pass the dredge equipment. For radio channels and specific information regarding passage into or out of the harbor during dredging, consult the website here.
The good news is that while it won’t help this weekend, harbor access should be expanding soon.
Captain Conner Goes Overboard
“Conner was awarded the rank of Captain by Admiral Capt’n Grampa in 2015 and is scheduled to resume sailing lessons in 2026 — hopefully on the ocean.” But first …
This is an event that took place in 2015, on a lake. Conner’s mother Amy was a bit worried, but let him go sailing with me anyway. It was his first time sailing. On one leg of the trip, there was a fair breeze — about 15 knots — coming from the northeast. It wasn’t too bouncy, offering a port tack heeled at about 30 degrees — nothing significant. Conner went to the foredeck to explore the boat. For his own amusement, he hung from the lifelines, letting his feet and legs drift/dangle across the deck using gravity and the motion of the boat lurching through the waves. He appeared to have it figured out pretty well and was having a good time. And it was fun to watch.
My amusement is watching the water around the boat — the lee-side stern. I glanced down at the water passing the lee side of the boat at about 6 knots. Then I heard a thump, and Conner went by the boat at about 6 knots. That ended my sightseeing. I jibed to stay under the man overboard. I didn’t want to tack up and be on top of him before having a chance to tend sails and gear so I could devote myself to getting him back on the boat (a Santana 22). There were just the two of us on the boat. (Well, now just one.) He was obviously OK, no injuries from the fall, and we started having a conversation. No swells, just waves. Temperatures were mild in the 70s, and the water temperature was probably close to the same, so I wasn’t worried. Conner was wearing a life jacket and could talk, his airway was open. We were on a lake.
The man overboard was fine with the state of things until he surmised the possibility that I, and the boat, could be blown to the other side of the lake. This didn’t take him very long to figure out. It was simple physics, but he wasn’t too privy to the concept of tacking, yet. So, he started screaming. Poor kid, he was a bit out of his element. I got to him in about two tacks. (At the time, it seemed to take longer.) The closer I got, the calmer he became.
Regattas Abound in the Month of May
On San Francisco Bay
The Great Vallejo Race is coming up fast, and the deadline to register is almost upon us. The race to and from Vallejo Yacht Club sails this weekend, May 2-3. Enter no later than tomorrow, Thursday, April 30, or your boat will be left behind, sobbing at the dock. As of this morning (April 29), the entry list hit the 100 mark. VYC dredged their harbor this winter, so there’s plenty of space for everyone. See www.jibeset.net/YRA000.php?RG=T007124066.
Down in the South Bay, Sequoia YC’s Summer Series kicks off this Saturday. Sign up on Jibeset: www.jibeset.net/SEQYC000.php?RG=T00453062.
Feeling a little dinghy? Try the Elvstrom-Zellerbach regatta at St. Francis on May 16-17. “The regatta is the pairing of two long-running events at St. Francis,” says Tracy Usher, “the Zellerbach going all the way back to the early 1960s, the Elvstrom the brain child of Don Trask first run in 1975. Paul Elvstrom finished second (having never sailed a Laser before then). This year the race office has tried to keep the number of fleets lower in order to improve the quality of the racing, so we are looking at only four fleets racing on the Cityfront: 5O5, i420, ILCA 6 and ILCA 7. The early registration deadline is this Thursday (April 30) by the end of the day. After that the registration fee will increase by $40.” Sign up at https://theclubspot.com/regatta/DvWydBVpcN.
But can even a dinghy get out of the San Francisco Marina right now, not to mention a fleet of race committee assets? Here’s what Tracy told the Laser fleet: “I am sure plenty of you have seen the fun pics and videos on social media about the entrance to the harbor at St. Francis. The good news is that a new dredging company has been contracted and will start operations early next week. They anticipate the channel to improve daily, and it should be possible for the RC to pass before the weekend of the regatta. In addition, we should be in a high-tide cycle making transit possible.”
The Master Mariners Memorial Day Regatta will start in front of StFYC on Saturday, May 23. The boats will finish near Clipper Cove behind Treasure Island after traversing the Bay on various courses. Encinal YC in Alameda will host the usual post-regatta raft-up, party and dinner with music and dancing. Many boats spend the night and sail home the following day after a potluck breakfast. See www.sfmastermariners.org/regatta.
Hitch Up the Trailer
The Lake Yosemite Sailing Association in Merced invites trailer-sailors to their Spring Regatta on May 16-17. They welcome all dinghies and keelboats for four or more races over two days. They offer a Saturday night BBQ dinner, free tent and RV camping, and “legendary LYSA hospitality.” See www.lakeyosemitesailing.org/spring-regatta.
Out on the Ocean
On May 9, the Yacht Racing Association’s Duxship Race (a triangle sailed within one day) and Bluewater Bash (a 150-mile race to a point 75 miles offshore and back) will both start off the Cityfront.
May 23 will be a busy Saturday on the West Bay. In addition to the Master Mariners Regatta, the Singlehanded Farallones will sail out the Golden Gate for a loop around SE Farallon Island. And the Spinnaker Cup will kick off California Offshore Race Week. Registration for the SHF will close on May 20; see www.jibeset.net/JACKY000.php?RG=T002648191 for details and to register. Note that SSS offshore races now require an AIS transponder (not just a receiver).
California Offshore Race Week will consist of the Spinnaker Cup from San Francisco to Monterey on May 23-24, the Coastal Cup from Monterey to Santa Barbara on May 25-26, and the SoCal 300 to San Diego on May 28-30. See www.offshoreraceweek.com.
More in Southern California
San Diego YC will welcome the Etchells Worlds on May 7-15. As of this writing, 76 boats from eight countries had registered.
In the Pacific Northwest
“The Pacific NW Offshore Race is one of the longest coastal West Coast races, and likely the most challenging,” writes Philip Lewis. “The race runs 193 miles from just outside the Columbia River Bar to Victoria, BC. We get racers from not just the Portland area but also from Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver. It has occurred to us that we never extended invitations to California sailors.” This 50th edition will start on May 14.
You can watch a video of the record-setting 2014 race at www.youtube.com/watch?v=B36UFkysvrI.
“We know the trip to Oregon is long and not without its discomforts,” continues Philip. “However, the Offshore is only one activity. Once in Victoria, a week later is the Swiftsure Race (May 23-34). There are some great cruising grounds, such as the San Juan Islands, Canadian Gulf Islands, and Barkley Sound.”
We’ve Reached the Time Limit
Much like most regattas, we’ve got a cutoff time, so we’ll leave this list for now. However, you’ll find many, many additional fun events on Latitude 38’s annual and monthly calendars (the May issue will come out this Friday, May 1). You’re also welcome to use the Comments section below to promote your favorite upcoming regatta(s).
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