2026 U.S. Sailing Team Racing Championship Results & Recap
We’re excited to welcome Anna to the Sail1Design team! Originally from Chicago, Anna sailed at Hobart and William Smith and will be contributing to Airwaves event coverage and social media. For her first article, she covered the 2026 U.S. Sailing Team Racing Championship for the George R. Hinman Trophy from the water, sailing with Team No Survivors.
Article contributed by Anna McBride
This weekend, from September 18-20th, Norfolk Yacht and Country Club hosted the U.S. Sailing Team Racing Championships for the George R. Hinman Trophy. 24 teams compiled of sailors local and international competed for three fun, hot days full of highly competitive FJ racing.
This year’s Hinman was unlike that of years past. With 24 teams, this was the largest Team Racing Championship to date, with also the highest percentage of female drivers being 18%. For the first time, the event was scored using the Swiss League format.
Each team’s first two races were randomly selected. From there, teams would be matched up based on record. In order for a team to climb the rankings, they had to beat the record of the team ranked above them. Without the round robin, teams faced some competitors multiple times while never sailing against others. Sailors commented that, given the size of the event this year, this was a more efficient way to provide the most competitive racing for all teams regardless of their skill level.
Norfolk brought the heat this weekend. With temperatures up to 90 degrees and a breeze range starting around 5 kts and building through the day. At the end of day one, results were tight with 5 teams tied for 9th. The competition began to divide up by Saturday as tie-breakers were won and lost leaving Rock City Cruising Club, Bonesaw, Los Huevos, Bristol Pistols, Double Decker, Them Winning, No Survivors, and The Sav in the top 8.
Come Sunday morning, the Elizabeth River was glassy and competitors waited on land until about 10:30 am, when the race committee decided to move forward with just the top 8 teams. They used a knockout round to decide the final four teams, with the 1st place team racing the 8th, 2nd racing the 7th, and so on to win 2 of 3 races. Rock City Cruising Club, Bonesaw, Los Huevos, and Bristol Pistols successfully advanced to the semifinals, while the remaining teams were eliminated.
The final came down to Rock City Cruising Club and Bonesaw to sail for best of five races. In the end it was team Bonesaw (David Thompson, Elizabeth Redmond, Graham Landy, Chris Klevan, Ian Barrows, Michaela O’Brien) who went home as the 2026 Hinman champions!
It was a fun event overall, with tight competition and lots of camaraderie among all competitors. You can find the full results HERE. Photos are from Lexi Pline’s gallery and linked HERE.
Top 8 Team Rosters:
Bonesaw
David Thompson, Elizabeth Redmond, Graham Landy, Chris Klevan, Ian Barrows, Michaela O’Brien
Rock City Cruising Club
Shawn Harvey, Piper Holtus, Jack Egan, Julia Miller, Teddy Nicolosi, Anisha Arcot
Los Huevos
Mitchell Callahan, Sara Schumann, Carlos Bermudez de Castro, Addy Fisher, Robby Meek, Jacob Posner
Bristol Pistols
Spencer Cartwright, Claire Buckley, Colin Merrick, Caroline Levesque, Mackenzie Bryan, Colleen O’Brien
No Survivors
Sarah Young, Lilly Baker, Lucy Meagher, Anna McBride, Kyle Pfrang, Elise Donovan
Double Decker
Chase Decker, Carly Kiss, Reade Decker, Abigail Baird, Aidan Hoogland, Molly Matthews
Them Winning
Boyd Bragg, Aisling Sullivan, Benton Amthor, Reese Bragg, Hector Guzman, Kate Klempen
The Sav
Caroline Sibilly, Brendan Peary, Michael Kirkman, Brooke Bergendahl, Jack Redmond, Lanie Ferrarone
