SFYC Hosts Inaugural Women’s 2v2 Team Race
Nov. 8 and 9 saw the inaugural running of the San Francisco Yacht Club’s (SFYC) Women’s 2v2 Team Race Invitational, utilizing SFYC’s RS21 fleet. 2v2 team racing is a format that requires excellent boat handling and knowledge of the rules, and is designed for boat-on-boat engagement. Slightly different from traditional three-on-three team racing, two-on-two is quickly growing as a competitive format of higher-level racing in the US. As of this year, SFYC has established the only women’s two-on-two event on the West Coast.
Six teams from around the Bay Area and Southern California, including visiting sailors from Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC), California Yacht Club (CYC), Richmond Yacht Club (RYC), Encinal Yacht Club (EYC) and St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) came to compete in the regatta.
It was a beautiful weekend on the water. With light winds forecast, PRO Forrest Gay and his adaptable and impeccable race committee found the best breeze on the Bay in Richmond on Saturday — just enough wind to get through a full rotation.
Regatta chair and competitor Molly Carapiet shares her reflections of the regatta: “We had competitive racing in perfect conditions, supported by outstanding umpires, a top-notch race committee, equal boats, exceptional volunteer support, and wonderful camaraderie.”
Sunday saw the fleet head to Paradise Cay in a brisk northerly in champagne conditions. Teams leveled up their skills from the day before, and there were a lot more passbacks, mark traps and lead changes as crews developed their boat handling and application of team-race tactics. Teams quickly rotated through and completed a second round robin with enough time to hold a final race series between SFYC and StFYC, and a petit final race series between RYC and CYC.
Team SFYC with Katie Maxim, Madeline Maxim, Amy Leenhouts-Harrill, Molly Carapiet, Melissa Purdy, Sammy Steele, Debbie Bennett, and Bianca Sills took the win over Team StFYC in the finals.
Massive thanks to chair Molly Carapiet, chief umpire Vicki Sodaro and director of sailing Forrest Gay, RS21 fleet manager Adam Corpuz-Lahne and their teams for a phenomenally run event. SFYC extends its greatest appreciation to Richmond Yacht Club for their partnership in lending their two RS21s for the weekend so that simultaneous races could be run.
SFYC has a full slate of RS21 invitational regattas lined up for 2026, including both sprints, rapid short course racing similar to the popular European league-style events, and 2v2 team racing.
March 21–22, 2026: RS21 Sprint Invitational.
May 2026 (TBC): RS21 2v2 Team Race Invitational.
June 6–7, 2026: RS21 Women’s Sprint Invitational.
Oct. 24–25: Women’s 2v2 Team Race Invitational.