Monday, April 28 – Conditions were challenging at the 2025 College Sailing Women’s Team Race Championship. Racing had to be cut off on Saturday as gusts measured above 40 knots and multiple capsizes made continuing the Round of 12 too dangerous. The Yale University Bulldogs and the Stanford University Cardinal ended the day with a perfect record of 9-0 and 8-0 respectively–putting Yale in the lead and Stanford in second, leaving Harvard University and Tulane University tied for third with a 6-3 record.
The round robin finished Monday in a northwesterly 10 knot breeze which saw the Tulane University Green Wave enter the round of six seeded third, and the Dartmouth College Big Green fifth before a close 2-3-5 win from Dartmouth led to a sail off between the Big Green and the Cornell University Big Red that resulted in Cornell taking the final spot in the Final Four.
It was a tough start to the final four as the breeze died off after completing the top six that morning. Despite the race committee’s decision to forgo rotations with the hope of expediting racing, only two races of the Final Four round were able to be completed before the 5 p.m. cutoff. Without enough wind to complete the round, Stanford ended the regatta with a 16-1 record, and their second Women’s Team Race championship title.Yale finished a close second at 15-2. Harvard ended the event in third.
“I could not be more impressed with the level of sailing and composure the team put forth at this championship,” said Stanford Head Coach Chris Klevan. “Only three of our eight sailors competing sailed in last year’s championship–one of whom made an unprecedented switch from crew to skipper–yet we defended the title with grace under immense pressure from great competition.”
The 2025 women’s team racing championship prompted reflection from the class of graduating seniors–many of whom sailed in the inaugural women’s team race championship in 2022.
“It’s been an honor to join college sailing at a time where women’s team racing has been a sport,” said senior Yale crew, Ximena Escobar. “From my very first nationals, which was at Brown, it’s great to see how the women have progressed. I’ve seen a lot of them sailing co-ed at the very top level…and I think it’ll get even better in the years to come.”
Harvard senior skipper Cordelia Burn echoed the sentiment “it’s been really amazing and inspiring to see how much women’s team racing has improved in the past four years.”
Six of the fifty-eight skippers at the Open Team Race National Championship just days before were women.
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