SSA Women @ SDYC 2026 Women’s Winter Invitational
Sunny skies and light to moderate breeze greeted Severn Sailing Association’s (SSA) team of Marissa Milliken (skipper), Holly O’Hare (main trimmer), and Dorian Haldeman (jib trimmer) for the 2026 San Diego Yacht Club Women’s Winter Invitational Regatta (WWIR). This team of predominantly snipe and ILCA sailors came together to race a J22 (sans spinnaker) and test their mettle against some of the nation’s most experienced female teams over Valentine’s Day weekend. They finished a respectable 10th out of 24 teams and cannot wait to come back next year!
The event has been drawing all-female teams to La Playa Cove (the compressed waterfront anchorage directly off SDYC’s docks, shared with rafted up boats, passing traffic, paddle boarders, and the occasional harbor seal) since 2018. As in previous years, the 24 teams hailed from prestigious clubs from all over the US, as well as Mexico and Canada–2026 marked a record year of applications received. Of the over 40 applications received in December of the prior year, only 24 teams made the final cut.
The regatta follows a unique format—first, the 24 teams sail a qualifying round rotation, racing in flights of four boats per start. The races are extremely short (on average, no more than 10 minutes per race) and when the breeze cooperates, the rotations fly by. As a delightful quirk of this event, the rounding marks used are giant pink inflatable flamingoes clad with sunhats and pink leis (the Sailing Instructions actually specify that touching the beaks and wings of the flamingos is permitted–only touching the bodies requires a penalty turn). Protests are handled swiftly on the water using the three-minute justice system.
After the qualifying round is completed, the group splits into Gold and Silver fleets, based on the average of their scores from the qualifying round. The top 6 teams advance to the Gold fleet to compete for the perpetual trophy, while the next 6 teams race in a separate petite final. The bottom 12 teams are done racing for the weekend but get to enjoy camaraderie, beverages, sunshine, and snacks on the dock while listening to SDYC legend Craig Leweck (of Scuttlebutt fame) provide gripping commentary.
This year, the race committee completed 57 races in the qualifying round before transitioning to the final round. SSA’s team of Marissa, Holly, and Dorian sailed consistently in the early races and steadily improved their teamwork, boathandling, and execution as the races progressed, finally breaking their streak of 2’s and 3’s to put a bullet on the board in race 50, the team’s last race of the first round, seeding them in 10th overall and qualifying them for the Silver Fleet (i.e. petite finals). The final round of the petite finals consisted of even more compressed racing–the wind direction clocked to the right throughout the afternoon, forcing the race committee to set the course to an even more confined area within La Playa Cove. SSA’s team fought hard to improve their standing but ultimately remained 10th overall.
On shore, the regatta organizers kept the competitors extremely well-fed and entertained all weekend, with early morning yoga sessions to start the day, dockside snacks and mimosas during the day, and lively social events (including Saturday night karaoke!)in the evenings. Our team was honored to conduct the first-ever burgee exchange between San Diego Yacht Club and SSA and is grateful to SDYC Commodore Alli Bell for treating us to a tour of the legendary club cupola to help mark the historic occasion.
SSA has competed in this regatta since 2019 with SSA sailors Sarah Alexander, Deniz Cirivello, Pam Corwin, Kim Couranz, Carol Cronin, Dorian Haldeman, Erin Jacob, Ashley Love, Kat Martin, Margaret Podlich, Lauren Pollak, and Christine Potts combining in different teams over the years. Many of the other competitors have sailed with or at SSA in their illustrious sailing careers, including California Yacht Club skipper and former SSA junior sailor Derby Anderson White.
This year’s team would love to thank the support from SSA to compete in this event year after year and will certainly aim to bring back lessons-learned from such a strong example of fostering high-level women’s sailing back to the Chesapeake!
Photos courtesy of Mark Albertazzi
