St. Francis Yacht Club Three-Peats as Women’s 2v2 Champs at NYYC

St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) sailors have won the Women’s 2v2 Team Racing Championship for the third consecutive year. The event was hosted by New York Yacht Club (NYYC) on May 30–31.

“We’re super-lucky to have the same team three years in a row, so we’ve got the benefit of being able to practice together at St. Francis,” StFYC team captain Kate Shiber said in a press release. The team closed out the regatta undefeated, with a score of 7-0.

“We have a phenomenal team. The teamwork amongst the eight of us is really fantastic,” skipper Molly Carapiet said in the press release. “I think we have really good boat handling and communication on both of the boats, and I think we’re really resilient when things go a little sideways in a race, so we have a lot of trust in each other to help each other out.” The Californian team consisted of Kate Shiber, Lindsey Baab, Helen Lord, Elena VandenBerg, Molly Carapiet, Rosalind Meade, Sammy Steele and McKenzie Wilson.

First run in 2021, the Women’s 2v2 Team Race is one of five highly regarded team-race regattas held each summer by the New York Yacht Club. The event, held in early June, attracts top female sailors from across the country. The inaugural event was won by the host club, with Lauderdale Yacht Club winning in 2022 and Bristol Yacht Club in 2023. St. Francis Yacht Club won in 2024 and 2025. As with the other four regattas, the Morgan, Hinman, Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters, the Women’s 2v2 utilizes the club’s fleet of 22 identical Sonar sailboats.

Mother Nature had her own plans for the weekend. A northerly surge of up to 45 knots and low temperatures canceled the first day of racing. Light breeze Sunday morning gradually built into heavy-air, high-intensity racing, with teams exchanging the lead throughout the races and many of the wins coming down to the final leg. The first round robin completed 20 races before heading into a gold round robin with the top two teams from each mini-round. Larchmont Yacht Club came in second with 5-2, and Newport Harbor Yacht Club finished third, 4-3.

“We love to compete. We had good starts, but mostly it’s just boat handling. We would just draw people into tacking duels,” said Shiber. “We’re lucky we still sail J/22s multiple times a week, which are very similar to Sonars, so we just got that stuff dialed.” Carapiet continued, “We also do a lot of match racing too. I think that helps with a lot of the boat-to-boat situations.”