For the second time in four years, Annapolis Yacht Club took home the win at the 2023 Annapolis YC 3-2-1 Invitational. This unique regatta, which incorporates 3v3 team racing, 2v2 team racing, and 1v1 match racing, challenges sailors to adapt their jobs and strategies across these three disciplines. Eight teams are invited to compete and each year the number of Requests for Invitation has increased as word spreads about the activities both on and off the water.

This year, five out of eight teams were from ICOYC—Annapolis Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club, St. Francis Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club and San Francisco Yacht Club—and they were also the top five finishers, in that order.

The event, held September 22-24, was marked by the dynamic racing brought by Tropical Storm Ophelia, resulting in the cancellation of Saturday races.

Despite the lost day, the Race Committee, led by Sandy Grosvenor and Ted Kaczmarski, managed to complete 78 of 84 races. Team AYC narrowly beat San Diego Yacht Club in a tiebreaker of 13 wins and 6 losses. St. Francis Yacht Club was a close contender the entire weekend, finishing third overall.

The winning team was comprised of Lilla Salvesen (co-captain), Brady Stagg (co-captain), Seth Mininger, AJ Libby, Brad Julian, and Fletcher Sims. “It was a really fun event, we worked really hard to get a good team together—we had a great time,” said Lilla Salvesen. “This event is so unique because you are just jumping from boat to boat and you have to be constantly changing gears,” described Salvesen. “It’s about working together as a team every single time.”

This regatta is different from any other event because each team races in different boats throughout the event in different types of racing formats. The 8 teams of 6 sailors doublehand J/22s for the 3v3 team races, they go three-up in J/22s for the 2v2, and for match racing, all 6 sailors are on J/105s donated by two AYC members for this event.

“We’re thrilled to have pulled off another stellar AYC 3-2-1 this year in the face of a challenging forecast. We would not have been able to do it without our volunteers, ambitious race committee, and sponsors. And I certainly couldn’t have done this without the leadership of my co-chair, Bell Carty. The bar is set even higher for next year,” said Derick Lynch, co-chair of the event.

The next Annapolis YC 3-2-1 Invitational will be held on September 20-22, 2024.

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