Story and photos by Rick Bannerot
The biennial running of Noroton Yacht Club’s Susan Widmann Sinclair Women’s Championship, presented by Fairfield County Bank the weekend of June 13-15, was a second wild and wooly event, thanks again to Mother Nature. Over the three days, the eight women’s teams, sailing eight identically-prepared Sonars, came from as far away as Halifax, NS; San Francisco, CA; and Hamilton, BER. The competitors experienced everything from blue skies and a modest breeze to easterly winds from 10-20 knots, with gusts over 30, and rolling 3- to 5-foot swells being pushed straight down Long Island Sound.
Competitors in this year’s Sinclair faced wicked waves and blustery gusts. Pictured here is Stephanie Wondolleck’s San Francisco YC team.
Winning this year’s event was a very accomplished skipper, Carmen Cowles and her team which hails from Larchmont Yacht Club (NY), with not one, not two, but three Cowles sisters onboard. You might recognize that last name from the list of finalists in 2017, and winners of the 2018 Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year award. “Team Cowles” was comprised of Carmen (skipper), and Emma Cowles (tactician), along with their younger sister Margaux Cowles, Lauren Siegal, and Anne Elizabeth Sidamon-Eristoff as crew. Of particular note, in the twelve races Team Cowles scored an unprecedented eight straight wins, sweeping Days 2 and 3 on the score sheet.
Spinnaker pole set aboard skipper Erin Maxwell’s boat
Twin sisters, Carmen and Emma Cowles grew up sailing Optis in JSA of LIS regattas on western LI Sound. After aging out of Optis, the twins moved on to LISOT’s International 420s in the U.S. and internationally, before sailing for Yale University. While at Yale, Carmen won the 2020 Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year award, and both women are multi-year ICSA Collegiate All-Americans and All-Academic Team.
When asked about sailing with her twin sister Carmen said, “Emma and I have sailed a lot against each other, and together since we began sailing. We were always each other’s training partners and each other’s biggest cheerleaders. It’s an interesting experience to sail with someone who has almost always been there on any day of training or racing. This has proven to be very beneficial for us when we teamed up.”
Katrina Williams’ team, representing the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, finished second.
In the close racing fleet of Sonars (designed by Noroton YC’s own Bruce Kirby), second and third place were separated by only three points. Skipper Katrina Williams, the 2006 Bermuda Female Sailor of the Year, led her team from the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club (Bermuda) and were the runners-up, with Erin Maxwell from Noroton YC finishing third.
Sinclair winners (l – r) Anne-Elizabeth Sidamon- Eristoff, Emma Cowles, Carmen Cowles, Margaux Cowles, and Lauren Siegal
Shannon Bush (Corpus Christi, TX), this year’s International Race Officer, who also presided over the inaugural championship, said, “I didn’t think the weather could be worse than 2023, but I was wrong. This is like winter for us Texans. The competitors did an outstanding job of sailing through some wicked waves and crazy wind gusts. My all-women’s umpiring crew, ably led by Vicki Sodaro, and Britt Hall as chief judge, were kept busy trying to stay close to the Sonars in their RIBs. There were very few instances where penalties needed to be applied. The camaraderie and good spirits were outstanding on and off the water.”
Led by IRO Shannon Bush, the Sinclair race committee delivered a solid series in a variety of conditions.
Event Chair Nancy Pearson, having now worked for four years pulling the Sinclair Championship events together, said, “Susan Sinclair was a world champion sailor, an Adams Cup winner against the best female sailors in the U.S., and the 1962 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (formerly sponsored by Martini & Rossi). She was an inspiration to our juniors, as well as to the women sailors at Noroton…and she was a friend of mine. I know having Sue’s family watching the racing and being present for the opening and award ceremonies meant a lot to them, to her fellow club members at Noroton, to the volunteers, and especially to the women competing for the trophy given to celebrate and honor Sue’s legacy of world-class women’s sailing.” ■
