M32 Miami Winter Series 3: Eleven M32s draw a crowd in Miami
by Hannah Lee Noll, M32 World 2 Mar 2025 17:36 PST
February 28 - March 2, 2025
M32 Miami Winter Series © Hannah Lee Noll
The M32 fleet is thriving. Eleven boats lined up for the March edition of the M32 Miami Winter Series, making it one of the most competitive events in recent years.
With today's win, Ryan McKillen and his Surge team are proving themselves to be the big dogs this season. With back-to-back victories, Surge is setting the pace for 2025. Their next challenge? Keeping the momentum rolling into the final Miami event before summer. Keep your eyes on McKillen, Taylor Canfield, Stewart Dodson, Luke Payne, and Sam Loughborough.
Miami is bringing the heat! The M32 fleet is stacked with Olympians, America's Cup tacticians, SailGP athletes, and world champions—but at its core, it's all built on passionate owners who just love to race fast. This regatta was a game of inches—lead changes, comebacks, and no easy races.
A fight to the finish
Bill Ruh's Pursuit opened the regatta on fire, holding the early lead after Day 1. But as the event progressed, Surge slowly chipped away, race by race, until they climbed to the top of the standings.
- Day 1: No one dominated—four different race winners, five tight battles. Pursuit set the pace, but the fleet stayed packed, with points separated by single digits across the leaderboard.
- Day 2: TUUCI made a push with back-to-back bullets, creating a showdown with Surge. But Surge held their ground, keeping their grip on the top spot.
- Final Day: Dingbat sailed their hearts out, winning three races and nearly pulling off a comeback. At one point, they were just three points from the lead—until an OCS in the final race ended their run.
Surge's Miami win wasn't about big moments—it was about the little ones. Ryan McKillen and his team didn't dominate from the start, but they made gains where it mattered most. "We're analyzing every moment of the race, making small tweaks. Enough small tweaks add up to big gains," said McKillen.
That analytical approach, combined with rock-solid speed and consistency under pressure, was the difference-maker in a stacked, 11-boat fleet. And when it counted most? They delivered. With the regatta on the line, Surge won the final race, proving once again that when the pressure is on, this team performs.
New drivers on the racetrack
The M32 fleet is booming
This regatta wasn't just about the leaderboard—it was about the size and strength of the fleet. Eleven teams, deep talent pools, new entries, and tight racing prove that the M32 Class is in great shape leading into the World Championship this fall in Miami.
Charlie Julien's Rated X fought hard for second, keeping the heat on Surge all weekend. Meanwhile, Bobby Julien's Dingbat stormed onto the podium and nearly pulled off an upset.
The event welcomed a brand-new UK entry—Ben Pritchard's Akheilos. A Cape 31 team making the jump to the M32, they were more than happy to trade UK weather for Miami sunshine.
There were two female helms in the M32 fleet this weekend: Christina Sakellaris driving Extreme2 and Ava Wilson at the helm of Convexity. It's a recent trend the fleet loves to see.
What's next?
One more event remains in the 2025 Miami Winter Series before the fleet flies north to Newport for a packed summer schedule:
- M32 Midtown Cup Series
- NYYC Annual Regatta
- M32 North Americans
- Thursday night racing
- Newport distance races
M32 action is also heating up in Aarhus, Denmark, Kristinehamn, Sweden, and Riva del Garda, Italy as teams prep for the World Championship in Miami this fall.