2026 NYYC Women's International Championship - Overall

Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick and Team Vigilant Cap Dominant Week with Historic Victory

On the final day of the inaugural Women's International Championship presented by State Street Investment Management and SPY, Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick and Team Vigilant looked surprisingly mortal as they battled through a dying breeze for the final three races of the regatta. Their finishes of sixth, seventh and 10th were their worst of the 10-race regatta. But after four days of immaculate sailing, they can be forgiven for looking merely good on Day 5. And in terms of the overall results, those scores were more than enough to ensure victory in this historic regatta.

"When we started the project, the goal was to win this event," said Stephanie Roble, tactician for Team Vigilant. "But there's so much that goes into it. Over the last few years, we really focused so much on the process of becoming the best version of ourselves in order to show up here and be the best. It's been a really rewarding process as a team, and there have been a lot of highs and lows throughout two years of training. We're just really proud that it all came together at the right moment."

2026 NYYC Women's International Championship Day 5 - photo © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

To get the most from what was expected to be a dying easterly breeze, the race committee moved up the first start time 90 minutes to 9:30 a.m. With four races possible, victory remained a mathematical possibility for the teams in the top 10 going into the day. But the reality was focused on the minor placings. In particular, the battle for second and third was particularly taught with seven teams separated by 10 points.

"We had the remainder of a northerly out there which is really tricky, very sheery, and then the easterly came in, brand new sea direction," said skipper Michelle Lahrkamp who sailed with the Fair American team that started the final day in second. "We did not see that the previous day, so very new, very exciting. We just stayed very heads out of the boat. The speed team was really dialed in."

2026 NYYC Women's International Championship Day 5 - photo © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

The inaugural edition of the New York Yacht Club International Women's Championship Presented by State Street Investment Management and SPY took place September 12 to 19 at the New York Yacht Club Harbour Court in Newport, R.I. The regatta was sailed in the Club's fleet of 20 IC37s. The 37-foot keelboat was designed by Mark Mills to a brief developed by the Club. The IC37 is a powerful, sporty platform that rewards cohesive crew work and athleticism. The Women's International Championship was supported by founding partner Rolex, regatta sponsor Helly Hansen and official suppliers Tiffany & Co. and Palm Beach Motor Yachts.

The battle for second was a roller coaster with the whims of the mercurial easterly shaking off contenders seemingly with each variation of wind direction and velocity. In the day's first race, the eighth of the regatta, four of the seven teams finished at the sharp end of the fleet while three others—the squads led by Nicole Breault, Hannah Diamond and Katie Spithill—recorded finishes that effectively knocked them from the running for second or third.

2026 NYYC Women's International Championship Day 5 - photo © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

In Race 2, one more aspirant to the runner-up position took it on the chin: Ragna Agerup and Team Ursa Minor's 16th put them 16 points behind third and 17 out of second.

That left Lahrkamp and Sarah Douglas and Team Royal Canadian Yacht Club in control of the podium with Hannah Swett and Team MO-Amundsen six points out of third and poised to strike.

"We started the day, literally, with a bang, so that was pretty awesome, winning the first race," said Swett. "Going into the final day with eight boats that could get on the podium, we just had to do well. In our first race, we did really well. Then, boy, did we have a shocker in the second race. But then the third race, we played the shifts, and credit to my whole team for keeping the boat going. It was a very hard day. But we ended well."

2026 NYYC Women's International Championship Day 5 - photo © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

Swett was, at times, very deep in that final race. But the shifting wind opened up numerous passing lanes, and Team MO-Amundson took advantage of every opportunity to claw back to seventh while Douglas, who had an equally challenging first leg of the final race, was unable to match Swett's march through the pack and finished 14th, dropping to fourth overall by a single point.

Lahrkamp's ninth in that race was more than sufficient to keep the team from American Yacht Club in second overall. This performance was the result of a very steady regatta, with just one finish outside the top-10.

"Our team is a full Corinthian team," said Lahrkamp. "I think what really brings us together is how hard we work and how well we mesh. Our communication is awesome. We all want to improve every single day. So after the first day, second day, we were continuously improving, continuously working to adjust certain things. And you have really productive conversations. Then it pays off yesterday and today, when we were able to really dial it in, get two top-three finishes, and then a top-10 to finish the day. It all just came together."

2026 NYYC Women's International Championship Day 5 - photo © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

But the day, and the week, belonged to Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick and Team Vigilant, who were all but untouchable for the first seven races and more than good enough on the final day.

"The fleet of women that showed after this event were just so impressive, and we knew everyone was going to have a really steep learning curve throughout the event," said Roble. "We really focused on learning as much as we could throughout the event and really also focused on the processes that we put into place throughout this season, just leaning into those processes and trusting ourselves and knowing it's never over until it's over, just keep fighting for every point and always to the finish line."

2026 NYYC Women's International Championship Day 5 - photo © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

And, of course, the championship is just one of the great things the team will take away from this week of intense competition and unparalleled camaraderie.

"A lot of the women on Team Vigilant I had never sailed with before, and I really, really—obviously—loved sailing with of them," said Grapengeter-Rudnick. "Hopefully, these are friends for life, teammates for life, and we'll get other chances to sail together in the future."

With the sailing complete and the IC37s returned to the care of the Club staff, all that remained was the Awards Banquet on the lawn of Harbour Court. It was an evening that celebrated all the competitors as while only one team could win in the scoreboard, each team, each sailor carried something positive away from this regatta.

Special awards handed out this evening included the Helly Hansen Sportsmanship Award, which went to the Dominique Provoyeur and Team Granate RSA, which traveled from Cape Town, South Africa, to compete.

Winning the Palm Beach XI Training Scholarship, which will include a trip to Australia to train on board the 100-foot Palm Beach IX, were Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick, Joan Porter, Mariah Millen and Laura Donaghy.

The next edition of the Women's International Championship is scheduled for mid-September 2028. The request for invitation process will be announced in the near future.

From the Sailors:

4th Place: "It's a bittersweet ending to be so close to the podium and just shy of it, but today we put together some good racing, and to come away with a bullet, the team was so excited, and it just speaks to how high level the racing is. You make one mistake and you fall out of the podium position. But overall, our team couldn't be happier. It's so inspiring to see all the female sailors come together, and to be on the starting line with them all is a real honor.", Sarah Douglas, Helmswoman, Team Defiant

2026 NYYC Women's International Championship Day 5 - photo © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

5th Place: "The last race was fantastic. We took a bit of time to find our mode in the first race, but second and third race proved that we had our mode. We were so close to first, but we also recognized to protect second, rather than to do something risky for first place. It was a really nice way to finish: to know that we are the first team outside of the North American circle, and to know that this is only the beginning for us. The best thing about our team is we were together, we were saying how do we build and move forward, and we were still talking, we were still laughing. We had some very long debriefs, but we came back together, and that's the exciting thing about a strong team.", Katie Spithill, Helmswoman, Team Shaw and Partners Women Racing

Overall Results:

*1-point penalty
**contact penalty