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Junior Race Week 2026

NBYA
NBYA

Junior Race Week: PRO Reports and Results

Thank you to our hosts at Sail Newport

The Awards Ceremony at the Jason Titunik Racing Education Center opened with remarks from NBYA President Mike Zani, who thanked volunteers, coaches, and partner organizations for their work supporting junior sailing. NBYA Junior Chair Nick Ewenson, who also works with SNPT, was recognized for coordinating the regatta’s operations.

Fleet leadership teams were acknowledged early in the program, including Guy Sanchez of Ida Lewis Yacht Club for the Green Fleet, Buster Pike and the NBYA Board crew, including Jack and Cheryl Rienzo, for the Champ Fleet, and Matt Hill of US Sailing for the c420 and ILCA fleets. Host organization Sail Newport received special thanks, particularly Regatta Chair Diarmaid Desmond and Social Chair Nikki Raccio. Mark‑boat drivers were also credited for maintaining fair and consistent racecourses throughout the week. We'd also like to thank all the other volunteers who assisted with Protests and other shoreside elements.

At Junior Race Week this year, we had 133 registered boats. Over three days of racing with generally big breeze and some weather, the sailors did an awesome job demonstrating their skills. On Tuesday night, the Social team at Sail Newport put on a great dinner, despite the challenges of an early beach time due to rain. The First Annual Club's Got Talent Showcase was truly iconic and we had many different acts including comedy, impressions, dances, musical performances, and even some impressive mental math acrobatics! We are sure that this will be a tradition that sticks and are excited to go even bigger with this next year. Bravo to all who had the guts to participate!

PRO Reports

C 420/ILCA 6 Circle

PRO Matt Hill, US Sailing

Twenty-nine Club 420s and 10 ILCA 6s from a dozen programs enjoyed 10 races over three days in a variety of conditions on the racecourse, located between the Newport Pell Bridge and the southern end of Gould Island.

Monday was a spectacular Narragansett Bay day, with wind in the low teens from the SSW and relatively flat sea. Both fleets raced five races, most of them windward-leewards twice around.

Tuesday was overcast, with stronger breeze, again from the SSW, reaching the high teens. The fleet sailed two sporty races then headed in ahead of anticipated storms.

Wednesday was mostly clear with some mackerel sky, and the fleets completed three more races each in SW breezes in the mid teens.

Optimist Champ

PRO Buster Pike, NBYA

2026 NBYA Race Week Opti Champ fleet had a great regatta.

Excellent conditions with 9 races in 3 days (3, 4, 2) in light air to max of 22 knots on Wednesday. Happily, wind was with the current, keeping the water flat and the general recalls to a minimum (1 with 1 U Flag start).

3 of the 4 race officers on the Signal boat (Cheryl, Jack & Buster) are NBYA board members along with scoring guru Rosa. Great team made it easy to run some excellent races.

Optimist Green

PRO Guy Sanchez, Ida Lewis Yacht Club

The Ida Lewis Yacht Club (ILYC) Race Committee was proud to run the Green Fleet circle for NBYA Junior Race Week. ILYC has a long history of collaborating with NBYA and Sail Newport, and this event was another great example of that partnership.
 
Our plan for the week was to run as many races as possible on Monday, which was predicted to have the best conditions for the Green Fleet. That plan paid off — we completed five races on Monday.
 
Conditions on Tuesday were expected to be comfortable at the start but deteriorate as the day went on. We planned ahead for this by deploying two mark boats, allowing for quick course setup and teardown. We started on time and completed three races as conditions grew more challenging; a number of competitors elected not to start the third race, which we fully supported.
 
Wednesday brought strong winds and difficult conditions from the outset, with forecasts calling for further deterioration through the day. We sent one mark boat out to assess the racing area, which reported 15 knots with gusts to 20 — enough that we kept the Green Fleet on shore. Our signal boat went out at 1045 and confirmed that conditions were too challenging for the fleet as a whole. While the top half of the fleet might have handled it, the bottom half would have struggled. This call was later validated by several parents, who shared that their children had tried heading out with their coaches but turned back at the mouth of the harbor once they felt how tough conditions were.
 
All told, this regatta delivered two full days of excellent racing. Our Race Committee thoroughly enjoyed running the event and sharing in the competitors' enthusiasm on the water. NBYA Junior Race Week was a great success, and we're already looking forward to next year.

 

Green Fleet Race Winners

Several Green Fleet sailors earned individual race wins, marking key milestones in their early racing careers:

  • Henry Dunbar, CYC
  • Oonagh Gilchrist, Tiverton YC
  • Jack Spiller, EGYC + GBSA 
  • Van McDonough, Tiverton YC
  • Jonah Johnston, EGYC + GBSA

Results

Copy of NBYA.org Featured Image 1200x630 (57)

Opti Championship Results

White Fleet
  1. Hunter Meade, SYC / JK Sailing
  2. Perry Marks, BCRP
  3. Charlie George, CYC
Blue Fleet
  1. Rogan Meade, SYC / JK Sailing
  2. Allison Meade, SYC / JK Sailing
  3. Sage Dovbniak, EBSF / CCSC
Red Fleet
  1. Hadley Slusarz, JK Sailing
  2. Gabriel Sullivan, BCRP
  3. Connor Walmsley, BCRP

Brad Swett Trophy Awarded

The Brad Swett Trophy, a perpetual award honoring the founder of the Conanicut Island Sailing Foundation, was presented to Rogan Meade of SYC / JK Sailing. The trophy recognizes the top Girl Optimist sailor at Junior Race Week and reflects Swett’s mission to expand access to Narragansett Bay for all youth sailors. It is very cool to note that Rogan also won the regatta outright for the Opti class. 

Opti Overall Podium
  1. Rogan Meade, SYC / JK Sailing
  2. Allison Meade, SYC / JK Sailing
  3. Sage Dovbniak, EBSF / CCSC

ILCA Podium

  1. Win Hodgeson
  2. Henry Richards, SNPT / Ida Lewis YC
  3. Theo Fechner, SNPT / BCRP

c420 Results

Division I
  1. Raymond Vasile & Max Hess, BCRP
  2. Hannah Land & Sophie Zawilinski, BCRP
  3. Jackson Wilcox & Mack Moser, EGYC / GBSA
Division II
  1. Harrison Kolodzi & Parker Sandman, BCRP
  2. Alejandro Vinelli & Charlie Dal Bo, CYC
  3. Finnegan Cox & Louise Dickson, SPYC

Alicia Tabor Cup

The Alicia Tabor Cup, awarded to the top girl skipper in the c420 fleet, went to Hannah Land of BCRP. The trophy, traditionally presented at the Mary Rose Marshall Regatta, was reassigned to Junior Race Week this year. Hannah Land and her crew Sophie Zawilinski placed 2nd in Division I and placed 5th overall. 

c420 Overall Podium

  1. Raymond Vasile & Max Hess, BCRP
  2. Harrison Kolodzi & Parker Sandman, BCRP
  3. Alejandro Vinelli & Charlie Dal Bo, CYC

Peggy Read Memorial — Sailors of the Week

The Peggy Read Memorial Trophy, honoring a foundational figure in Narragansett Bay junior sailing, was awarded to Raymond Vasile and Max Hess. The selection reflects overall performance, consistency, and fleet size across the week. Vasile reflected on how proud he and Max were to win this award, as they were 2nd in the running for this prestigious prize in 2025 and 2024. 

Congratulations to all our sailors!

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