SSA Women @ SDYC Women’s Winter Invitational
The San Diego Yacht Club’s Women’s Winter Invitational (WWI) Regatta was first held in 2018 with the goal of encouraging women to participate in keelboat racing. The 2025 edition hosted 24 yacht-club teams from across the country, Mexico, and Canada. Rivalries on the water have spanned decades! The regatta received the US Sailing 2022 One Design Regatta Award. Teams applied for the regatta in November, with just 24 being selected out of many applicants. The competition is steep! This year’s team consisted of Deniz Cirivello, Kat Martin, Christine Potts, and Lauren Pollak.
In 2025 the regatta ran 65 races in Stage One on the first day and the first half of the second day with a quartet of J/22s in each race. Teams of 3-4 women swap boats after every race in a rotation to ensure each team raced every other team and every team had a chance in a different boat. In the final stages, the top boats were divided into gold and silver fleet for a chance at a trophy. Teams wait on the dock for their next race in the rotation, enjoying the camaraderie of other sailors, plenty of snacks, and adult beverages. SDYC legend Craig Leweck provided commentary on the races, conditions, and the sartorial choices of competitors and passersby.
The race course is a small cove and anchorage wedged between SDYC and neighboring Southwestern Yacht Club in the shadow of Point Loma. Around 1100, a sea breeze kicks in and the races get sporty. Racers dodge moored boats, swimmers, kayakers, the occasional lost sabot, pleasure craft and competitors in other races, while reading the shifty and puffy wind conditions. Inflated pink flamingos are used as the windward and leeward marks, making for interesting mark turns – and no penalty turn required if a boat hits the beak or wings! Protests were handled off the water in between races, using the three-minute-justice procedure, adding to the fast-paced nature of the event.
SSA has competed in this regatta since 2019 with SSA sailors Sarah Alexander, Deniz Cirivello, Pam Corwin, Kim Couranz, Carol Cronin, Dorian Haldeman, Erin Jacob, Ashley Love, Kat Martin, Margaret Podlich, Lauren Pollak, and Christine Potts combining in different teams over the years. Many of the other competitors have sailed with or at SSA in their illustrious sailing careers, including California Yacht Club skipper and former SSA junior sailor Derby Anderson White. AYC also sent a team of four, including SSA members Koralina McKenna and Bonnie Urban – way to represent, ladies!
The team would like to thank SSA for the support to participate in the event and encourage participation in other events and possibly to host one in the future!
