2025 SHYC Junior Racing racked up local, national and international success!
Congrats to our SHYC JR Racers who have been competing near and far in summer 2025, representing Sachems Head Yacht Club. Many of our SHYC sailors also race on their High School and College Sailing teams too! Each of these sailors gained their sailing skills as part of our SHYC Junior Programs. We are all very proud of them all! (Above: Avery Peterson and Gil Hackel at the CJ Buckley 420 Team Nationals)
Optimist Sailing: Within our SHYC Summer program this summer, we had sailors consistently attending and placing top-3 in the ECSA Opti regatta circuit. We also had sailors showing strong results at regional and national Opti regattas too.
- Sofia Fantarella placed in the top-3 of Blue Fleet in every ECSA regatta she sailed in, winning first in Blue Fleet at the Pettipaug, Fischer Island, Niantic Bay Opti Regattas, and a 2nd place overall in the ECSA Opti Blue Fleet Summer Series as well as second overall girl in the ECSA Summer Opti Series. She also competed in the Optimist Girls Nationals in California, and her result earned her a spot in the 2026 Optimist Team Trials Regatta to be held in Fairhope, Alabama in April.
- David Fantarella recently placed 6th out of 116 at the Opti NJ State Championship! Other notable results include 2nd overall at Narragansett Bay Race Week Opti Regatta and 5th at Edgartown Opti Regatta. He also competed in the Optimist Nationals in Marina del Rey, CA where he qualified for the 2026 Optimist Team Trials Regatta.
- Libby Vitari raced in nearly every ECSA Opti regatta and achieved several top-3 finishes, including a 1st in White Fleet at the Pettipaug Regatta! She placed 6th overall in the ECSA Summer Series for White Fleet.
- Teag Ozyck sailed in all the ECSA Opti regattas this summer, achieving several top-3 finishes, with his most notable finish being a 2nd in Blue Fleet at Wad Club and a 5th overall out of 60 boats. He placed 5th in the ECSA Summer Series in Blue Fleet.
- SHYC Junior Regatta. We had many SHYC taking on Green Fleet Races this summer at our SHYC JR Regatta including Annie Ames Casper, Charlotte Leonard, Lucas Fantarella, Leah Walden, Laney Lundberg, and Christopher Valois. In RWB we had new and seasoned opti racers including Sofia, Teag, Hugo Sandmann, Emilia Fantarella, Libby, and Jack Valois. In the doublehanded fleets, we had Noelle Mularski & Harper Leondar in the c420 fleet and Isla Gordon & Chloe Mularski in the RS Feva fleet!
On the c420 circuit, Avery Peterson spent the summer training and racing as part of Team 73-Sailing, with her skipper Gil Hackel. They finished the summer strong with a 2nd at the National Championship, 1st at the CJ Buckley Team Racing Nationals, 1st at the North Americans, and an overall win of the Triple Crown c420 Summer Series! She races. During the school year she sails on the St. Georges High School Sailing Team in Newport, RI; this past year they were 4th at Team Racing Nationals and 3rd at Atlantic Coast Champs.
In the 29er Fleet, Wylder Smith spent his summer training and competing in Europe with his teammate Wyatt Lipp. The circuit took them through Germany, Italy and Portugal. They finished off the Summer with a Gold Fleet finish of 28th (tying for top US Boat) at the World Championships held in Porto, Portugal. During the school year he sails on the Christchurch High School Sailing Team in Virginia; this past year they were 5th at Team Racing and Fleet Racing Nationals and 1st at Atlantic Coast Champs.
SHYC Sears Cup Team! David Fantarella, Fischer Smith, Carter Mikolay, and Cord Enman earned a berth at the US Sailing Sears Cup National Championship held in San Francisco California by winning the AreaB Qualifiers in Sonars. Our team sailed 3 intense days of racing on San Francisco bay in J-22’s in over 20+ knots with ripping currents. They finished 12th out of 20 teams from across the country. They were the top boat from our region and the first ECSA boat to reach the finals in over a decade! These SHYC boys also sail for Guilford High School during the school year.
In Laser/ILCA racing news, Sasha Fichtenholtz represented SHYC at the ILCA Nationals in Oyster Bay Long Island and at the New Bedford Junior Regatta. She placed 4th at the Mary Raferty Girl Power 420 Regatta at Weekapaug Yacht Club. Sasha sails for Branford High School.
Highlights among our older college age SHYC sailors. Penelope Weekes finished up her 4-year college sailing career at Middlebury College as Captain of the team and with a 1st in A-Division at the Little Three regatta this spring. Anna Steffen finished up 3 fun years on the Brown Sailing Team. Gus Fichtenholtz just completed his Swab Summer at the Coast Guard Academy where he will be on the Varsity Sailing Team this fall as a 4th Class Cadet. Ike Schutz finished up 4 successful years of sailing on the St. Georges High School Sailing Team in Newport, RI this past spring, and is already off to Tulane to start his college years.
