J/Teams Lead the Fleet at 2026 American YC Spring Regatta

ByStuart Johnstone

(Rye, NY)- The American Yacht Club Spring Regatta that took place from May 1-3, 2026 provided the large contingent of J/sailors a variety of challenging weather conditions over the three-day event. The last day proved to be a “gear-buster” for many boats; many were seen sporting reefed main and/or J4 heavy weather jibs!

The three-day format included the Friday AYC Coastal Race (separately scored with trophies) and the weekend AYC Spring Series- two days of windward-leewards and random leg buoy racing. J/Boats were the predominant brand for the regatta; of the 38 entries, 22 were J/Teams- about 58.0% of the fleet! Here’s how it all went down for each division.

ORC 2 Division
This six-boat class saw Rick Lyall’s new J/40 performance cruiser called J-HAWK from Storm Trysail YC garner the silver medal after posting four straight deuces for a total of 8 pts!

PHRF Coastal 2 Division
The winner of this half-dozen boat fleet was determined by a tie-breaker at 3 pts each, both boats with identical scores- 1-2! Albrecht Goethe’s fire-engine red J/46 HAMBURG II won by virtue of winning the last race! Losing that coin toss was Erik Asgeirsson’s gorgeous flag-blue J/45 ACADIA. Taking fifth place was William Ingraham’s J/124 TENEBRAE.

PHRF Coastal 3 Division
In this five-boat fleet, it was a podium sweep for J/Teams. Winning was Kevin Marks’s J/99 VELOCITY 2, followed by Matt Roleke & Trace Dittenhofer’s J/33 CO-CONSPIRATOR in second, and Robert Schwartz’s J/109 NORDLYS in third place. Finishing fourth was Todd Aven & Todd Diffee’s J/99 THIN MAN.

PHRF Coastal 4 Division
Cleaning house in this half-dozen boat fleet were two veteran J/Teams. Winning with two bullets was Paul Beaudin’s J/105 LOULOU. Earning the silver medal was Jon-Claude Zucconi’s J/92 EASY RED with two deuces!

J/44 Class
A half-dozen of the stately J/44s, with mostly class veterans present, enjoyed another weekend of closely fought racing. For this edition, it was Don & Dick Rave’s RESOLUTE and June & Amanda Kendrick’s PALANTIR 5 that tied after four races with 9 pts each. Winning on the countback was the Rave’s RESOLUTE, with the Kendrick’s PALANTIR 5 having to settle for the silver medal. In the unaccustomed position of not being at the top of the leaderboard was Commodore Bill Ketcham’s MAXINE, posting a 4-2-3-2 tally for 11 pts to garner the bronze medal.

J/88 Class
The trio of J/88s enjoyed tough internecine battles with each other, with everyone riding a roller-coaster scoreline. In this case, yet another tiebreaker determined the final outcome for the top of the leaderboard. Winning on the countback was Nicolas Delcourt’s OH JEE from Larchmont YC, followed by David Kaplan & Ray Gustin’s REDLINE from Indian Harbor YC who took the silver medal. Rounding out the podium for the bronze medal was Diego Sacristan’s WILD THING from American YC.

J/100 Class
The J/100s on Long Island Sound keep growing in strength. Winning was John & Corinne Foster’s SALTIRE with a 2-1 for 3 pts total. Taking the silver medal was William Hennes’s LIBERTY with a 3-3 tally for 6 pts. Then, the bronze medal step was taken by Scott Mac Vicar & Brad Parish’s RESOLUTE with a 5-2 scoreline for 7 pts!

For more American YC Spring Regatta sailing information
https://yachtscoring.com/emenu/50596