J/Boats Dominate 25th Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta

(Larchmont, New York)- The Storm Trysail Club celebrated 25 years of hosting their fabulous event for college sailors on Long Island Sound- the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta co-hosted with Larchmont Yacht Club in Larchmont, New York. The event has grown stronger over time and has become by far the most popular college sailing regatta in the world! This year, forty-seven colleges participated with thirty-nine teams sailing various J/Boats- an astonishing 83.0% of the fleet! It was a veritable “college J/Fest regatta” on western Long Island Sound for three days!

Storm Trysail Club has many reasons to celebrate this 25th anniversary milestone of the IOR regatta. For starters, it was a wise move to organize the event around a generous idea: local boat owners and members sharing their boats, time, and knowledge to introduce college sailors to big-boat racing. Without question, J/Boats owners are passionate about their boats, enthusiastic supporters of their alma maters, and love to introduce new sailors and new crews to their boats- it’s a great source of pride for our J/Boats owners to help promote the sport of sailing to everyone!

Organized with Larchmont Yacht Club and supported by the Storm Trysail Foundation, the IOR has grown from just 7 teams back in 2001. The regatta now offers opportunities for a range of college sailing programs, from established collegiate offshore programs to club teams whose sailors have primarily raced dinghies. For some schools, the weekend offers a chance to build a growing offshore team. For others, it is a first chance to take on the different roles, teamwork, and challenges of racing a larger keelboat. Over 400 college sailors answered that call this year, in mixed women/men crews.

At the heart of that experience are the boat owners and designated Safety Officers, who welcome students aboard and help them build knowledge and experience throughout the weekend. Their commitment makes this distinctive format possible, connecting the next generation of sailors with an experienced and enthusiastic sailing community.

“This event is one of the things that makes me so proud to represent both clubs,” said Andrew Weiss, Commodore of Storm Trysail Club, Vice Commodore of Larchmont Yacht Club, and owner of the J/88 ONE TOO MANY. “By welcoming college sailors aboard our boats, we’re helping lay a foundation for the next generation—giving them opportunities to build skills, gain confidence, and discover where sailing can take them. As a boat owner, it’s incredibly rewarding to see a team come together over the course of a weekend and know that you’ve played a small part in opening that door.”

Most teams began Friday with practice aboard their assigned boats, working alongside their Safety Officers to become familiar with sail handling, maneuvers, and crew responsibilities before racing began.

Saturday and Sunday brought competition across two race circles and six classes: the ORC National Team Class, two PHRF divisions, and three one-design divisions for J/88s, J/105s, and J/109s. The National Team Class is new for 2026 and brings together schools participating in all three stops of the expanding IOR Series.

The weekend delivered two very different tests. Saturday’s sunshine and light breeze rewarded patience, careful boat handling, and finding pressure, with most classes completing four races. Sunday brought strong winds and torrential rain, putting the sailors through their paces and shifting the focus to decisive maneuvers, clear communication, and coordinated teamwork. The weekend saw seven races. Here is how it all went down in each class/ division.

J/88 Class
Drexel University and Wisconsin Badgers teams battled closely for the top of the leaderboard all weekend. The regatta outcome was decided in the final race when Drexel’s skipper Jonathan Walerys on WHIRLWIND fought off a determined Wisconsin team led by skipper Carter Harms on ALBONDIGAS. Although Harms’s Wisconsin staged a strong comeback to win the last race, Walerys’s Drexel crew on WHIRLWIND added a 3rd to their five bullets to win the class with 12 pts total. The Wisconsin Badgers had to settle for the silver medal with 13 pts total. Rounding out the podium was Crawford Phillips leading Olin College on ONE TOO MANY to the bronze medal step with 20 pts total.

J/105 Class
As has been the case for the past decade or so, the largest class in the regatta was the thirteen J/105s. The sailing conditions definitely dictated which teams felt most comfortable in the lighter winds on Saturday versus the dramatically heavier breezes and nasty weather conditions on Sunday. A smoking-hot opening gambit of a 1-1-2-3 for 7 pts put Will Denker’s University of Vermont team on SYNERGY just ahead of the Princeton Tigers team on MAGIC, skippered by Nick Lorenzen, which had compiled an equally strong 3-3-1-2 for 9 pts. However, Sunday would be a much different story. Torching the fleet “like a house afire,” the Columbia University team on LOU LOU, led by woman skipper Eva DeCastro, closed the regatta with four straight bullets to win the class with 18 pts total! Denker’s Vermont team took silver, while Lorenzen’s Princeton Tigers went home with bronze.

“Winning the regatta was a major milestone for our team, and we couldn’t be more excited! This was my first time helming an offshore regatta, and much of our team is also new to keelboats, so our goal at the regatta was to come in with a positive mindset and focus on working together as a team to sail this new kind of boat,” said Columbia’s woman skipper Eva DeCastro. “This win is extra special for Columbia because just four years ago, our team was inactive and wasn’t sailing. Our results at this regatta really show how far we’ve come. We’re super excited to build on this momentum and hope to be at many more IORs! We are so thankful for Storm Trysail, Larchmont Yacht Club, and Paul Beaudin’s LOU LOU for making this possible!”

J/109 Class
Counting all podium finishes, Eben Tooling’s McGill University team on NORDLYS from Canada won the J/109 class handily. The Canadian students posted an enviable record of 3-1-1-2-1-1-1 for 10 pts total! Luca Nykamp’s Hope College team took second place on QUICKSILVER, finishing with 14 pts total. Then, rounding out the podium for the bronze medal was Ryan Treat’s University of Connecticut team on SMILE with 28 pts.

“We had some very challenging conditions on Sunday, but our team performed amazingly, and we were able to capitalize on great starts,” said McGill skipper Eben Dooling. “This was a super fun weekend and an amazing opportunity for our team to connect with other collegiate keelboat sailors. We are incredibly happy to come back to Canada with the win! Thank you so much to all the owners and volunteers, especially Bob and Keller, for making the event possible!”

PHRF Large Division
It was a J/Boats sweep of the fleet. Winning was Henry McCallum’s Dalhousie University team on the J/122 DIRE WOLF. The Nova Scotia team showed remarkable consistency over their seven-race series, posting a 3-2-2-2-3-1-1 for 14 pts total. The silver medal went to Antonio Priskich’s Clemson University team on the J/111 SUMMER STORM, winning four races, but their 20 pts total was not enough to overcome Dalhousie’s hot, steady pace. Rounding out the podium for bronze was Anthony Rex’s USMMA team on the J/44 COMET with a total of 28 pts.

PHRF Medium Division
Taking the silver medal in this fleet of nine boats was Max Naseef’s University of Chicago team on the J/99 SAVE THE SOUND. Then, Aida Woods’s Webb Institute team on the J/105 SLEEPER took fourth place.

ORC National Division
This seven-boat fleet saw Luke Tougas’s College of Charleston team on the J/133 ASSARAIN take the silver medal with 16 pts. Quinn Brighton’s Brown University team on the new J/40 BLUE YONDER took third place with 21 pts. Then, fourth place went to Mitchell Krueger’s US Naval Academy team on the J/44 MAXINE with 32 pts total.

IOR National Series
Long Island Sound was the second stop of the 2026 IOR Series, following the Great Lakes IOR in Chicago two weeks earlier. The series next heads to Seattle for the inaugural Pacific Northwest IOR, with racing November 14–15, extending this opportunity to collegiate sailors on both coasts and the Great Lakes.

The College of Charleston leads the standings for the coveted Callisto Cup, awarded to the top National Team across the series. Brown University, the University of Michigan, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy remain close behind, keeping the title very much in play heading into the Seattle finale, which will be held entirely in J/105s.

Twenty-five years into Storm Trysail Club’s stewardship, the Intercollegiate Offshore Regattas continue to demonstrate the value of opening boats—and doors—to young sailors. These events have no entry fee, thanks to generous donations through the Storm Trysail Foundation, the dedication of boat owners and volunteers, and the support of sponsors ShopRite of Carteret, Lemon & Line, Helly Hansen, Carlsberg (Sheehan Family Companies), McMichael Yacht Yards & Brokers, UK Sailmakers Northeast, Dimension-Polyant, and RACE Coastal Engineering.

For College Big Boat results
https://www.yachtscoring.com/emenu/50628

For more Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta sailing information
https://stormtrysail.org/regattas/iors/larchmont/