Return to Form at Race Week Scores KUAI Second IC37 National Championship
by Stuart Streuli 20 Jul 00:41 PDT
July 16-19, 2026
2026 Race Week at Newport © Paul Todd /
www.outsideimages.com
Race Week at Newport seems to bring out the best in Daniel Thielman and his crew on the IC37 KUAI. And even then, it almost wasn't enough to claim a second IC37 National Championship in three years.
Thielman and his San Francisco-based crew started Race Week at Newport on the wrong foot as an OCS start saddled them with a 16th—out of 19 boats—in Race 1. But they quickly found their rhythm, reeling off five straight results of fifth or better. KUAI enjoyed an eight-point lead going into the final two races earlier today. A seventh in the first race enabled them to hold serve, but starting the final leg of the final race, with SHAMAN leading the pack and KUAI buried in 12th, the championship was very much up for grabs.
"I didn't even know how close it was, the team didn't tell me," says Thielman, from Tiburon, Calif. "I thought we were pretty well off, and then at the end of the race, we thought we might have lost it. I was just trying to protect the lead that whole last race. I was thinking mid-fleet would do it, and, apparently, we needed a little more."
That little bit more came on both ends, with KUAI picking up a place to 11th and SHAMAN dropping into second. The net result was a three-point win for Thielman, with SHAMAN, skippered by Carter Robinson, bumping up to second overall and Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick's VIGILANT team in third.
"After the way last season went, when we weren't the strongest competitor, to work our way back up, it feels really important," said Thielman. "I would put this in the upper echelon of all the championships we've won. This is close to the top."
Complete results can be found here.
The New York Yacht Club's Race Week at Newport was first run in 1998, and took place this year from July 16 to 19 out of the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court, in Newport. R.I. The biennial regatta, run at the apex of the summer sailing season, has established itself as one of the premier summer race weeks in the Northeast thanks to the attractive combination of great racing conditions off Newport and the superlative shoreside hospitality at the Club's waterfront Clubhouse overlooking Newport Harbor. The 2026 edition of Race Week at Newport is sponsored by Helly Hansen.
Recovering the form that carried KUAI to the 2024 IC37 National Championship was a process, says Thielman. He credits class coach Moose McClintock for steering the team in the right direction.
"He kept encouraging us and he gave us that last one or two percent," Thielman said. "He corrected our moding, and once we corrected that, then we were strong in all conditions instead of strong in just the windiest conditions. [He got us to] sail and mode like everybody else when it was close quarters and then go back to what we know is the fastest mode when we have a clear lane."
A similar process of refinement lifted Tom Rich and his crew on SETTLER to the win in ORC B. Now on their third season with the high-performance 42-footer, they are starting to get the hang of how to make her sing.
"The boat's a great boat, and it certainly fits the current thinking for an ORC boat," says Rich, of Portsmouth, R.I. "It's taken a little while to get her going. We struggled to make the boat go in lump and light air. Downwind the boat is really good.
"We had a great fleet, a lot of boats were very similar. And [Doug Newhouse's] YONDER sailed a phenomenal regatta; they were kind of the apple among the oranges. They're a Spirit of Tradition 52. But they were right there with us the whole time. It was pretty cool because a lot of the races were decided by less than 20 seconds on corrected time."
Rich started the regatta with two firsts and then two seconds, but a fourth in Friday's final race, which YONDER won, put Newhouse and his team in the driver's seat midway through the regatta.
The SETTLER crew responded with three straight wins, dominating the 19-mile race around Conanicut Island—hitting close to 20 knots on the downwind leg in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay—and then grinding out a pair of wins today, the first by just 11 seconds.
"We've won the regatta under PHRF, but I feel ORC is the cutting edge right now," said Rich. "It's really pretty cool to be there."
A few months ago, Mitchell Callahan was one of the top skippers in collegiate sailing, regularly dominating in the small, slow two-person dinghies that are ubiquitous to scholastic and collegiate competition. Today he earned himself a national title in the high-energy M32 class, successfully filling in for a second straight event for SURGE owner Ryan McKillen.
"It feels great," said Callahan. "I'm really grateful Ryan gave me the opportunity to drive his boat again. That's super cool. The guys in front of me were totally flawless all weekend. I'm just a small part of this."
While this was Callahan's second regatta in the boat, it still felt like a new experience thanks to a diverse set of conditions and race locations.
"We really got a bit of everything," he said. "We raced outside the Bay and north of Gould Island. We sailed with the reef in and without it, in everything from around 20 knots down to about five.
"It was awesome to experience every type of condition in this boat. The crew work in front of me was incredible. With how versatile the conditions were, they made my job easy. All I had to do was sit there, listen and drive."
Joost-Olan Sheehan passed along a lot of credit for his win in PHRF B to the architect of the WARRIOR WON program, his father, Chris Sheehan, who built a successful offshore-focused team over the last decade but is taking this summer off from sailing.
"I learned a lot from him and from the WARRIOR WON program, sailing alongside my father, learning a lot from the guys that have sailed with my dad over the years," says the junior Sheehan. "He probably wishes he was out there too. He follows all the races closely and he's really excited for me. I have to give a lot of credit to him for putting together the right people and the right boat to ensure success."
Joost-Olan Sheehan took over the skipper's role this winter and endured some humbling moments.
"My first time skippering a Cape 31 was this winter, and we had a lot of tough lessons when we were in Key West," says Sheehan. "We didn't do well at all. A lot of work went into practicing my boathandling skills, watching footage, all that kind of stuff that I think has really paid off."
PHRF B was the biggest rating-rule class in the regatta and one of the most diverse with boats ranging from small quick boats like the Cape 31 and GP26 to the classically styled Eggemoggin 47. But right from the outset, it was clear the two Cape 31s were going to be the boats to beat, taking first and second in the opening two races.
The PACIFIC YANKEE team, led by Drew Freides, has enjoyed tremendous success in one-design competiton in the Cape 31 class and other similar one-designs. Since the boats shared virtually the same rating for the week, job one for Sheehan and his crew (Bow 74) was to beat the other Cape 31 (above, left) as many times as possible.
"Drew is an excellent sailor," said Sheehan. "It's very evident that his boathandling skills are phenomenal. A lot of our success goes me staying consistent with my sailing, the rest of the team understanding what my skill level is and tuning the boat to that level."?
The New York Yacht Club summer regatta season will resume with the Morgan Cup Team Race, August 7 to 9, to be followed by three more nationally renowned team race competitions. The inaugural Women's International Championship and the Resolute Cup will close out the 2026 season. The full schedule of regattas can be found here.
Overall Results:
ORC A (One Design - 4 Boats)
1. Prospector, TP52, Larry Landry Paul McDowell, USA, 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1; 8
2. Privateer, Cookson 50, Ron O'Hanley, USA, 4 - 2 - 2 - 3 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 2; 22
3. Interlodge VIII, Botin 65, Austin and Gwen Fragomen, USA, 2 - 4 - 4 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 3; 25
4. Temptation/Oakcliff, JV 66, Art Santry Oakcliff Sailing, USA, 3 - 3 - 3 - 4 - 4 - 2 - 2 - 4; 25
ORC B (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Settler, GP 42, Tom Rich, USA, 1 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 4 - 1 - 1 - 1; 13
2. Yonder, Spirit 52, Doug Newhouse, USA, 3 - 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 4 - 3 - 5; 20
3. Impetuous, Swan 42, Paul Zabetakis, USA, 2 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 5 - 4 - 3; 26
4. Pterodactyl, custom, Scott Weisman, USA, 4/RDG - 5 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 2 - 2 - 2; 27
5. Rikki, R/P 42, Bruce Chafee, USA, 4 - 4 - 5 - 5 - 3 - 3 - 5 - 4; 33
Classics A (CRF MkII - 4 Boats)
1. Courageous, 12 Metre, Oakcliff Sailing, USA, 3 - 1 - 1 - 4; 9
2. American Eagle, 12 Metre, Jay Schachne, USA, 1 - 2 - 3 - 3; 9
3. Weatherly, 12 Metre, Steven Eddleston, USA, 2 - 3 - 4 - 2; 11
4. Nefertiti, 12 Metre, Jack Klinck, USA, 5/DNF - 4 - 2 - 1; 12
Classics B (CRF MkII - 4 Boats)
1. Onawa, 12 Metre, Chris Culver, USA, 1 - 2 - 1 - 1; 5
2. Spartan, Hereshoff, NGH Restoration, USA, 2 - 1 - 2 - 3; 8
3. VIOLA, GAFF CUTTER, Kostia Belkin, Monaco, 3 - 3 - 3 - 2; 11
4. Ticonderoga of Greenwich, Classic ketch, L Scott Frantz, USA, 5/DNF - 5/DNC - 4 - 4; 18
PHRF A (PHRF - 3 Boats)
1. Irie 2, Kerr 55, Brian Cunha, USA, 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 2; 8
2. PUGILIST, Marten 49, Dudley Johnson, USA, 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1; 10
3. Poseidon, Swan 45, Nico Martinez, USA, 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 4/DNC; 19
PHRF B (PHRF - 12 Boats)
1. Warrior Won, Cape31, Joost-Olan Sheehan, USA, 1 - 1 - 5 - 2 - 2 - 1; 12
2. Pacific Yankee, Cape31, Drew Freides, USA, 2 - 2 - 4 - 4 - 1 - 2; 15
3. Tink, Eggemoggin47+, Jack Lefort, USA, 4 - 3 - 1 - 1 - 4 - 3; 16
4. Teamwork, J 122, Robin Team, USA, 3 - 4 - 7 - 6 - 3 - 4; 27
5. Das Blau Max, Farr 30, Cory and Mark Sertl, USA, 7 - 7 - 2 - 3 - 8 - 9; 36
Club Swan 28 (One Design - 6 Boats)
1. Extreme 2, Club Swan 28, Dan Cheresh, USA, 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 7/DNC; 20
2. Mini Gal, Swan 28, Elizabeth Flowers, USA, 3 - 5 - 5 - 2 - 3 - 7/DNC - 2 - 1 - 4 - 1; 33
3. Freya, Swan 28, Jay Cross, USA, 1 - 4 - 3 - 5 - 4 - 5 - 3 - 4 - 2 - 3; 34
4. HOSS 28, Club Swan 28, Darden / Guerriero, USA, 4 - 2 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 2 - 4 - 6 - 3 - 4; 35
5. My Sharona, ClubSwan 28, George Gamble, USA, 6 - 3 - 4 - 6 - 2 - 1 - 5 - 3 - 5 - 5; 40
IC37 (One Design - 19 Boats)
1. Kuai, IC37, Daniel Thielman, USA, [16] - 4 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 5 - 7 - 11; 33
2. SHAMAN, IC37, Carter Robertson, USA, 1 - 6 - 10 - 10 - 3 - 4 - [14] - 2; 36
3. Vigilant, IC37, Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick, USA, 13 - [17] - 4 - 1 - 1 - 7 - 8 - 12; 46
4. Skeleton Key, IC37, Peter Wagner, USA, 4 - 7 - 3 - [14] - 6 - 3 - 10 - 13; 46
5. Qubit, IC37, Chris Lewis, USA, 2 - [15] - 6 - 9 - 7 - 14 - 9 - 3; 50
M32 (One Design - 10 Boats)
1. Surge,, Ryan McKillen,, 1 - 5 - 6 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 1 - 4 - 5 - 1 - 1 - 5 - 1 - 3; 38
2. Pursuit,, Bill Ruh,, 2 - 2 - 1 - 9 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 4 - 6 - 4 - 4 - 2 - 9; 50
3. YoungBlood,, Miles Julien,, 5 - 8 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 3 - 6 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 5 - 2 - 6 - 1; 59
4. Tuuci,, Cy Thompson,, 7 - 9 - 2 - 2 - 10 - 4 - 2 - 9 - 7 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 4 - 2; 64
5. Rated X,, Charlie Julien,, 8 - 7 - 5 - 3 - 2 - 8 - 4 - 3 - 8 - 4 - 3 - 7 - 9 - 6; 77
Complete Results can be found here