--- title: NBYA Big Boat Committee Updates for 2026 description: NBYA Big Boat Committee announces exciting updates for 2026, including enhanced communication tools, a new crewfinder community, and inclusive changes to the Boat of the Year Award. image: https://nbya.org/hubfs/Vela_halfway_rock_1200x630.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://nbya.org/news/nbya-big-boat-committee-updates-for-2026#main-content) [![Narragansett Bay Yachting Association](https://nbya.org/hubfs/2025-10-21_Burgee_and_NBYA.svg)Homepage](https://nbya.org) - [JUNIOR SAILING](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing) - [Register on Clubspot](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/) - [Junior Mission](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-mission) - [Perpetual Awards and Special Events](https://nbya.org/junior-perpetual-trophies) - [Mary Rose Marshall Regatta](https://nbya.org/mary-rose-marshall-regatta) - [Junior News](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-news) - [Junior Calendar](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-calendar) - [Volunteer](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-volunteer) - [FAQs](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-faqs) - [Zero Tolerance Policy](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-zero-tolerance-policy) - [Scholarships & Grants](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [Sammis Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [CJ Buckley Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-CJ-Buckley-Scholarship) - [RACING & CRUISING](https://nbya.org/racing-cruising) - [Boat of the Year](https://nbya.org/boty) - [Bay Challenge](https://nbya.org/challenge) - [Women's Sailing](https://nbya.org/womens-sailing) - [Model Boat Racing](https://nbya.org/model-boat-racing) - [NEWS](https://nbya.org/news) - [Share Your Stories](https://nbya.org/share-stories) - [ABOUT](https://nbya.org/about) - [Member Organizations](https://nbya.org/member-organizations) - [History](https://nbya.org/history) - [Official Documents](https://nbya.org/official-documents) - JOIN - [Junior Membership](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/join) - [Adult Membership](https://payments-na1.hubspot.com/payments/p49gQGtzMMbyJw?referrer=PAYMENT_LINK) [CALENDAR](https://nbya.org/calendar) - [JUNIOR SAILING](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing) - [Register on Clubspot](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/) - [Junior Mission](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-mission) - [Perpetual Awards and Special Events](https://nbya.org/junior-perpetual-trophies) - [Mary Rose Marshall Regatta](https://nbya.org/mary-rose-marshall-regatta) - [Junior News](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-news) - [Junior Calendar](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-calendar) - [Volunteer](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-volunteer) - [FAQs](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-faqs) - [Zero Tolerance Policy](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-zero-tolerance-policy) - [Scholarships & Grants](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [Sammis Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#scholarships-and-grants) - [CJ Buckley Scholarship](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing#junior-CJ-Buckley-Scholarship) - [RACING & CRUISING](https://nbya.org/racing-cruising) - [Boat of the Year](https://nbya.org/boty) - [Bay Challenge](https://nbya.org/challenge) - [Women's Sailing](https://nbya.org/womens-sailing) - [Model Boat Racing](https://nbya.org/model-boat-racing) - [NEWS](https://nbya.org/news) - [Share Your Stories](https://nbya.org/share-stories) - [ABOUT](https://nbya.org/about) - [Member Organizations](https://nbya.org/member-organizations) - [History](https://nbya.org/history) - [Official Documents](https://nbya.org/official-documents) - JOIN - [Junior Membership](https://narragansettbayyachtingassociation.theclubspot.com/join) - [Adult Membership](https://payments-na1.hubspot.com/payments/p49gQGtzMMbyJw?referrer=PAYMENT_LINK) [CALENDAR](https://nbya.org/calendar) ![](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Vela_halfway_rock_1200x630.jpg?width=1200&height=630&name=Vela_halfway_rock_1200x630.jpg) PHRF Cruising # NBYA Big Boat Committee Updates for 2026 ![NBYA](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2026-01-03_NBYA_300x300.png?width=48&height=48&name=2026-01-03_NBYA_300x300.png) NBYA March 2, 2026 In 2026, is committee is doubling down to echo the larger initiative for NBYA to be a trusted and valuable resource for yacht clubs across the bay. Does your club need to get more boats racing? Do you want to attract new members and support and encourage cruisers and casual sailors to race? Are you having challenges getting the word about events? Do you need volunteers to help with racers? ## NBYA Can Help Get The Word Out With NBYA membership crossing clubs throughout the bay, we can augment your current communications or serve as one of your primary tools We can help you publicize your event locally and across the bay! In addition to our [Rhode Island sailing calendar,](https://nbya.org/calendar) we have newsletters, social media channels and tools to improve your outreach. Are last minute crew struggles preventing member boats from racing? NBYA will be releasing a crewfinder/boatfinder community on WhatsApp soon. Stay tuned. This communication strategy has proven success by many NBYA clubs and we can help you leverage this tool. Do you have other ideas how NBYA can support your races? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Robyn and the NBYA team at [bigboat@nbya.org](mailto:bigboat@nbya.org)  ## Updates To Boat Of The Year (BOTY) Exciting New changes are coming to the **Boat of the Year** (BOTY) Award. The NBYA team has been hard at work making the BOTY award more inclusive for sailors across RI. We are in the process of refining the award outline. Key changes are: - Addition of more events, more than doubling the number of sanctioned events. Goal: Foster increased collaboration between events, clubs and NBYA. - Provide Automatic enrollment in BOTY with participation in a sanctioned event. Goal-increase competition and participation BOTY and Tenacious Trophy awards - Change to tiered/weighted event criteria that ranks events into 1-, 2-, or 3-point qualifiers. Goal-increase participation in all sanctioned races. We plan to share the updated award outline early April. An additional goal for the NBYA PHRF/Cruising class in 2026 is to recognize and award some of the NBYA perpetual awards that have not been awarded in several years. If you are interested in being part of this effort, please don’t hesitate to reach out. ## Share this post [mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fnbya.org%2Fnews%2Fnbya-big-boat-committee-updates-for-2026](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fnbya.org%2Fnews%2Fnbya-big-boat-committee-updates-for-2026) ## Keep reading ### [![](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142727.046.png?width=1200&height=630&name=Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142727.046.png) Junior PHRF In The News Chasing Five Knots](https://nbya.org/news/chasing-five-knots) ### [![](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142405.853.png?width=1200&height=630&name=Copy%20of%20NBYA.org%20Featured%20Image%201200x630%20-%202026-10-05T142405.853.png) Junior PHRF In The News Yellow Brick Road to BDA](https://nbya.org/news/yellow-brick-road-to-bda) - [Home](https://nbya.org) - [Junior Sailing](https://nbya.org/junior-sailing) - [Racing & Cruising](https://nbya.org/racing-cruising) - [News](https://nbya.org/news) - [About](https://nbya.org/about) - [Calendar](https://nbya.org/calendar) --- [![Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA)](https://nbya.org/hs-fs/hubfs/2025-10-21_Burgee_and_NBYA_white.png?width=300&height=92&name=2025-10-21_Burgee_and_NBYA_white.png "Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA)")](https://nbya.org) ###### Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA) works to support and grow sailing in Greater Rhode Island. NBYA is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization. Email: [Info@NBYA.org](mailto:Info@NBYA.org) Media Submissions: [Photo@NBYA.org](mailto:Photo@NBYA.org) NBYA, 7 Peck Rock Rd., Bristol, RI, 02809 [Newsletter Sign Up](https://nbya.org/newsletter) --- ###### © 2026 Narragansett Bay Yachting Association (NBYA). 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