San Diego Yacht Club Hosts Etchells Midwinters West

The San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) hosted the 2026 Etchells Midwinters West Regatta from March 27 through 29. The event was one of a series of major Etchells events at SDYC this year, to be highlighted by the classes’ World Championship in May. Fifty boats made up the fleet. Most of the boats were American, but there were also two Irish teams, plus one from Great Britain and one from Bermuda.

Seven races were sailed across the three-day event, with each boat being afforded two drops. Austin Sperry’s Raygun took the win with a net total of 13 points. Sperry won races four and six, and aside from his two drops (an eighth and a 13th), never finished outside of the top five.

“It was a great week here training in San Diego with our training partners for the Worlds,” Sperry said, per the SDYC press release. “We were fortunate enough to win this event. It was a great event to test a new boat and get ready for the Worlds here in a few months.”

Skip Dieball’s Stark Raving Mad came in second with a net of 22 points. James Mayo and Caleb Paine rounded out the podium in third with a net total of 25.

The highest-finishing Corinthian boat was in sixth place: Andrew Lawson’s No Dramas, sailing under British colors. The regatta as a whole was dominated by boats with Category 3 sailors, with only three of the 16 Corinthian boats finishing in the top half of the fleet (the other two were Will La Dow’s Warpath in ninth and Don Jesberg’s VIVA in 16th.)

You can find the full results here.