Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories

Marley Mais at the 2023 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship Qualifier

This December, team Green Flags Only assembled for the first time in St. Petersburg to compete in one of the qualifier events for Women’s Match Racing Nationals, which will be held in Chicago August 2024. The event was held in St. Petersburg Yacht Club’s J70s, with the option of 4-5 sailors, the only rule being that the skipper must be female.

Our team consisted of 4 women: Marley Mais skippering, Gwynie Dunlevy (NYYC) on main, Alli Gutenkust (CBYRA) on pit and spinnaker, and Maddie Bashaw (NHYC) on bow and jib. Each member brought different levels of match racing and keelboat sailing skill to the team, and after a blustery practice day on Friday we overcame the learning curve and were competitive with larger and more experienced teams.

Having been promised a calm and sunny Florida weekend, a cyclone bore down on the area as we completed two round robins of sailing on Saturday. The combined rain, wind puffing upper 20s and sea state made for fun and intense sailing that eventually had the race committee remove spinnakers at the end of the day and cancel racing Sunday. These conditions helped our team shine, as our 29er experience gave us a strong advantage on the downwind legs.

We ended the regatta in third place, having lost the tie-breaker for second on a controversial call which seems poetic given our team name, Green Flags Only. I am extremely proud of our progress over the course of the practice and regatta and I’m looking forward to more match racing in the future.

I would like to thank St. Petersburg Yacht Club for hosting the event, Beka Schiff and Janel Zarkowsky for organizing, the umpires and race officials for withstanding the weather with us, and all our competitors for providing a high-spirited regatta that will surely lead to all of us meeting again on a match race course in the future.

2023 US Women’s Match Racing Champs Qualifier
St. Petersburg, FL

2023 US Women’s Match Racing Champs Qualifier
St. Petersburg, FL