Women’s IDEAL 18 Regattas, CT & NY
YRA Andrea Watson TROPHY SERIES
There are four Women’s Ideal 18 Sailing Regattas held each year on Long Island Sound. The Queens Cup, The Gillespie, The Lorna, and The Mendez.
All four are qualifiers for the YRA Long Island Sound Andrea Watson Award, which recognizes the top woman sailor who is a member of the YRALIS.
Queens Cup
YRA of Long Island Sound Women's Championship. If the winning club is unable to host the following year, the host club is selected by the YRA. YRA membership is required. This regatta focuses on ‘equalized boats’. Skipper swap boats between races. (Photo 2018, Andrea Watson)
The Gillespie
Originally held in mid July at Norwalk Yacht Club in Norwalk, CT, this regatta is now held in September. It is a spinnaker event and is a qualifier for the YRA LIS Watson Trophy.
The Lorna Whittelsey
Held in late September at Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, CT, with spinnakers. This regatta is a qualifier for the Watson Trophy Series.
This weekend regatta consists of a Saturday fleet race and Sunday distance race. The 2018 Lorna was photographed by Mary Alice Fisher and by Andrea Watson, click here to access their websites.
The Mendez
The Commodore Mendez Woman’s Ideal Regatta is held in mid September at Larchmont Yacht Club in Larchmont, NY. Through 2023 this regatta was held without spinnakers and became a spinnaker event in 2024.
This photo is from the 2018 event.
Pequot Invitational
The Pequot regatta is not part of the Watson series. Once an annual event, the regatta has not been held since 2021.
The Pequot Invitational was last held in 2021. This regatta is not part of the Watson Series. Photo is from the 2018 Invitational.
The YRA of Long Island sound - ANDREA Watson AWARD
Presented annually to the YRALIS woman member with the best overall score, after having competed in at least three of the following women’s Ideal 18 events: The Queen's Cup, The Lorna Whittlesley, The Mendez and The Gillespie Regattas.
This new perpetual trophy was created in 2018 to honor the longtime service of Andrea Watson as the Executive Secretary of the Yacht Racing Association of Long Island Sound.
Series scoring will be High-Point with each regatta counting as a single event. Qualifying women skippers can have mixed crews.
Full results can be found here on the YRALIS website. Note that the results are incomplete as of December 2024 and haven’t been updated since 2021.
2024 Andrea Watson Award Winner
Pam Washington, Larchmont Yacht Club, won the 2024 series.
Pam sailed in three of the four qualifying women’s regattas for the Andrea Watson Award. Her crew over the three events were: Branka Dragasevic of Hudson River Community Sailing for the Mendez and Queen’s Cup; Anne Stark of Larchmont Yacht Club for the Lorna Whittelsey.
The YRA Awards ceremony was held at Larchmont Yacht Club on Sunday, December 8, 2024. Michael Millard of Indian Harbor Yacht Club gave out the one-design awards.
2024 Watson Winner, Pam Washington
Pam Washington, third from left.
Anne Stark second from left.
Branka Bragasevice far right.
Michael Millard far left.
2018 Andrea Watson Award Winner (Inaugural Year)
Katie Morgan, Noroton YC, won the inaugural series.
Katie’s crew over the 4 events were: Nicole Casey (Queen’s Cup and Gillespie Trophy), Britt Hall (Lorna Whittelsey), and Natalie Imamura (Commodore Mendez Trophy).
Congratulation to Katie and the 78 women racers, representing 13 yacht clubs, who competed in this inaugural year of the Watson Women’s Series in 2018. Second place finishers Anne Munkenbeck and Ginny Worcester came in just a couple hundredths of a point behind Katie.
Note that Katie also won the Watson Award in 2019 and 2021. The qualifying regattas were not held in 2020 due to COVID restrictions.
2018 watson award Winner, Katie Morgan
Katie Morgan third from left.
Andrea Watson far left
Natalie Imamura second from left.
Brit Hall far right.