Editor’s note: In mid-March, four sailors from Connecticut and Rhode Island traveled to the Principality of Monaco to compete in the Tropheé Virginie Hériot, an all-women’s regatta hosted by the Yacht Club de Monaco and sailed in J/70s. The event celebrates Virginie Hériot (1890-1932), who was known as ‘Madame de la Mer.’ She is the first woman to win an Olympic Sailing gold medal, as part of a mostly male 8 Metre team at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. Here, each Sound Sister recounts a truly unforgettable experience.
Lily Flack (22), Skipper – Wednesday/Thursday
Exploring the Principality are (l – r) Coach Alex and Sound Sisters Lily, Ellie, Sydney, and Ella.
Our first car ride together as a team, exploring Monaco within 24 hours, was a whirlwind. I wasn’t really sure how the team was going to mesh together—we hadn’t had a chance to meet before the trip. Sure, we all knew each other, but some of us better than others. Within no time, I realized that I’d never become best friends with a group of people so quickly in my life.
I knew it was meant to be when we found ourselves at Charles de Gaulle Airport during a layover in Paris, ripping apart our bags in security with a frantic attempt to close them before running to our next flight. There we were, all sitting on our bags trying to get our zippers shut, laughing like we’d known each other for years. At that moment, I realized how special this team was going to be.
When we arrived in Monaco and checked into our Airbnb, we decided to walk to the grocery store to explore and grab food for dinner. Such a “walk” in Monaco, however, is no casual stroll. It’s more like an intense Stairmaster challenge. We trekked 15 minutes downhill, then climbed back up with all our groceries—imagine the best team-building and cross-training session you could ask for before the event even started.
Pre-regatta provisioning in Monaco’s steep terrain was more Stairmaster than stroll.
We arrived at the venue two days early, giving us an opportunity to acclimate to the time zone and catch up on some much-needed sleep before the practice day. I tried not to show it, but I was definitely nervous going into the practice day. Forecast was predicting 20-25 knots, huge waves, and some rain. Since we’d never sailed together, I wasn’t particularly excited for a day of learning in those conditions. I played it off pretty well when I told the team I was disappointed that practice day was canceled due to high winds, though I was secretly thrilled at the chance to enjoy an Aperol spritz on the fourth floor of the prestigious Yacht Club de Monaco instead. The night ended with delicious, authentic Italian food, followed by fifty flights of stairs, rewarded with a bottle of wine and card games. Not a bad way to get to know each other.
Going to sleep the night before race day is a challenge for me, especially when I’m driving. There’s always a mix of excitement and nerves. I was thrilled to sail on the Mediterranean for the first time, but part of me couldn’t shake the anxiety about how we’d perform. Despite the nerves, after spending two days with the team, I knew I was surrounded by the right people. The bond we’d already formed gave me so much confidence and I was ready to get out there! The entire trip in one sentence? So much laughing! That’s what I’ll remember most.
The Sisters show off burgees representing MudRatz, Ram Island YC, Mudheads, and Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association at the Yacht Club de Monaco. New England Science & Sailing was their title sponsor.
Ellie Menezes (18), Spinnaker Trimmer – Friday
Who would’ve thought that while studying Economics in the Wesleyan University library on a cold New England day, the opportunity to race in the Tropheé Virginie Hériot at the Yacht Club de Monaco would sail into my inbox? I immediately texted fellow MudRat Lily Flack. She jumped at the idea. We reached out to Sydney Clays and Ella Bergendahl and the Sound Sisters formed. All four of us grew up sailing on Fishers Island Sound, so it only seemed fitting our team name be Sound Sisters. During the three weeks before the race, through a series of late-night Zooms, we sorted out logistics for competing in the Tropheé Virginie Hériot. A dream became a reality when I woke up Friday morning in Monaco, bouncing off the walls with excitement. Without any sailing on Thursday, I eagerly anticipated our first day on the Med with our amazing team.
Heading out to race in the Med! Yacht Club de Monaco
Sound Sisters arrived at the Yacht Club De Monaco courtesy of our chauffeur (Coach Alex Bowen) and gobbled down scrumptious chocolate croissants. Shortly after attending the skippers meeting, we received our boat assignment. Each day, all teams participated in a lottery for boat allocation. The club and generous private owners provided all boats for competitors. The first two days, the race committee divided teams into random fleets of seven boats. The final day consisted of championship fleets.
Carb loading, Monaco-style
First a team fistbump, then we hopped on the boat and rigged. While sailing out of the harbor to the race course, we asked ourselves many times, “Is this actually happening?” and “Are we racing in Monaco right now?!” It was a full circle moment. Sister Sydney coached me in my first Opti regatta, and here we were racing J/70s in Monaco. Because we’d never raced together as a full team, we made it a priority to focus on boat handling and communication. After fifteen minutes of heeling the boat to leeward and slowly sailing upwind in four to six knots, we arrived at the race course. The majestic mountains of Monaco and the deep blue Mediterranean made for a seemingly surreal race course.
The race committee started the races quickly …so quickly we did not realize the sequence had started. We discovered this about a minute before “Go!” Fortunately, we secured a great position at the committee boat. During the upwind leg, we maintained strong boat speed and a slight leeward heel to push through the chop. Rounding the windward mark in first place, we extended our lead on the downwind. Still in disbelief, we maintained our lead for the next two legs and finished first! After a celebratory team hug and cheer, we crafted our game plan for the next race. Race two offered similar conditions and we finished second. Our light air experience in Fishers Island Sound paid off! After finishing, we hopped off the J/70 onto the boat facilitating on-water rotations. On the way to shore, we joked that we should tell Coach Alex we placed 7th, but realized the smiles on our faces would prove otherwise.
Between rotations, we engaged in conversation with many of our competitors. Spending time with sailors from several countries, each with unique life stories yet one common mission, to push boundaries in sailing, was undoubtedly the best part of the regatta. The energy and camaraderie among our team and the competitors is something I’ll never forget. In this one event, I spoke with a British Olympian and America’s Cup sailor, along with Swedish, German and French racers. My teammates and I will be friends for life.
After a quick shoreside break, we rotated back into the J/70 and prepared for the third and final race of the day. We rounded the windward mark last, but made gains on the downwind and second beat, finishing the race in 2nd! We concluded our amazing day with some delicious Italian food and a few rounds of cards.
Ella Bergendahl (22), Jib Trimmer – Saturday
Saturday morning, we were excited for another great day on the water! Our fearless leader Lily pulled our class and boat assignments for the day: Fleet B and our favorite boat # 6, again. We hung around the club for a while waiting to get on the water. Other teams were starting to take notice of us, probably because of our eye-catching TikTok performances but also because we went into the second day in 2nd place overall. Throughout the weekend, multiple teams came up asking us for advice, which I thought was very cool. Lily and Alex always had some helpful feedback for whoever was asking. It was a lot of fun getting to know different teams from around the world between races!
We headed out to the course a little early to watch the fleet before us race. On the crash boat, we happened to be sitting behind the owner of our lucky boat #6 who of course said he’d be cheering us on. All the spectator boats gathered by the starting line, and someone from Remi’s crew (in charge of handling the boats) had even brought a speaker. We pumped our fists to “Eye of the Tiger” with the other sailors as we waited for our turn to race.
Big smiles after a big Day 1 Yacht Club de Monaco
Conditions were similar to the day before with light winds, but luckily the sun was poking out by the time we got to the course. The first race went pretty smoothly, with a 2nd place finish. The second race however became a little touch-and-go when we were over early. Luckily, we had a great recovery and made up for our mistakes on our downwind legs. Shout out to my sister Ellie for her amazing kite flying! We finished 4th after starting way behind everyone else. I think it was then I turned around and told Lily that she’s my hero because what a comeback!
That night the yacht club threw us a French Riviera-themed party. We all dressed up and hit the dance floor with our new friends. A highlight of our trip for sure! Only a women’s regatta could have had such a rocking dance floor going. At one point we had everyone in the room on a conga line, so much fun. After seeing her standing idly by the wall, Sydney went and grabbed Nina, the project director for the regatta, and brought her onto the dance floor as everyone formed a circle and cheered them on. And that was only ONE of the dance circles I saw Syd get in on that night! Later on, we requested the DJ play “Man! I Feel like a Woman!” by Shania Twain, which quickly became our anthem for the week. I think it’s safe to say we all had a pretty great day followed by a pretty great night. I even saw Coach Alex bust a move or two.
Sydney Clays (25), Bow – Sunday
After a night of dancing and fun with the other teams, we woke up and got ready for our last day of racing. We’d be sailing in Gold Fleet (top third of the entire fleet) and trying to maintain our second-place status. To settle some of our nerves, we kept the mood lighthearted and made a fun video for our Instagram before we left. I think we were all excited but nervous to see what the day would bring, as the breeze was forecasted to be between 15-25 knots, vastly different from the first two days.
Once we arrived at the yacht club, the skippers meeting was held and we received our boat assignment. While setting the boat to our preferences, we had a few breakdowns that had to be addressed. Fortunately, any breakdowns or issues we had were either handled by Remi the dock manager or Coach Alex, who came prepared with his tools and splicing kit. The perks of bringing Coach Alex along! Not only was he our coach, he was also our chauffeur and personal chef! He would take on another role later in the day…but I will keep that surprise for the end.
I was anxious for racing to begin. This would be the first time sailing together in “big breeze” and I think we were all nervous. During the first race, we got off the line and had good speed. We had difficulty with jib trim and that hurt our pointing upwind. It’s important to note that we were only sailing with four people, where the rest of the teams were sailing with five. Overall, we were overpowered in our upwind legs. Our downwind legs were fast and we were able to catch up to the pack, but ultimately it was not enough to “break the bubble.” Even after a tough race, we were still in good spirits. After all, we were sailing on the Mediterranean!
Although light air experience on Fishers Island Sound gave Sound Sisters (sail #16) an edge early in the series, they were edged out of a podium finish. Yacht Club de Monaco
We went after our first race and were unsure if they would race us again. Eventually we were informed that race committee was going to try and race Gold fleet for one final race. The competitors from Silver fleet that were also racing in the boat that we were in came back to the dock to swap with us (this was because the Bronze fleet competitors that were supposed to swap in had to leave early, so the Silver fleet competitors had no one to swap with when their race was over). When we were sailing out, the breeze was a steady 13 knots gusting 15, although towards the end of the Bronze fleet race the breeze started to build and “it was like someone turned on a fan” (Coach Alex). It was now 20 knots gusting to 25 with 6-foot swell, so our last race was cancelled and all competitors were told to sail in. I was relieved they called the regatta because we were all getting a bit nervous.
We had just finished our first international all women’s regatta on the Mediterranean! I know there were a lot of different emotions we were all feeling on our sail back into the harbor. I was so happy and proud of what we had accomplished, but sad that our journey was coming to a close.
Now for the surprise of a lifetime. To preface, Alex and I have been dating since 2018. We met in college when we were both on the Sailing team (I know, super cliche). As we were sailing back to the docks, the photography boat pulled alongside us with Coach Alex, who was going to sail in with us (we’d been trying to somehow get him out with us so he could say he’s sailed on the Med). I was thinking he would just sail in with us and that would be it. Nope… he got on the boat and proposed to me. Total surprise! Of course, unbeknownst to me he had enlisted the help of my Sound Sisters and they had planned the whole thing. I said, “Yes!” I know my teammates may have other comments on this:
Lily – “Saturday night, Sydney went to sleep before the rest of us and Alex showed us the ring. You can imagine how quietly excited we got. We felt so lucky to be a part of this engagement between two of the best people!”
Ellie – “The most epic proposal ever! In 25 knots, 6-foot swells, water breaking over the boat and on a very slippery deck, Alex managed to get down on one knee, hold onto the ring and propose to Sydney! She said yes and we all cheered. What a magical ending to the regatta! Congratulations!”
Ella – “The first thing Sydney said when she got in the car to head for the airport for France was, ‘Guys, before you ask, he’s not gonna do it on this trip. Sorry to disappoint.’ Little did she know he had the ring in his pocket all week. Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Clays! Your Sisters are so happy for you!”
I cannot express my gratitude to my Sisters for being a part of such a significant moment in my life. Mind you, we were not super-close to one another before this journey began. I believe this is a testament to the sisterhood and the bond we formed throughout this whole experience. Not only have we made lasting friendships with each other, but also with the amazing women we met. I often cannot find the words to express my gratitude for the opportunity to join such a special experience. One last comment: Women are powerful. Do not underestimate all the things we can do, especially when we are together!
A HUGE THANK YOU to our sponsors (New England Science & Sailing, Ram Island Yacht Club, Coral Reef Sailing Apparel, Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association, Mystic River Mudhead Sailing Association, MudRatz, and Contender Sailcloth) for making it possible for us to experience an opportunity of a lifetime. None of this would’ve happened without your support, and we are incredibly grateful. ■
