🌊 We Hit the Mark, by Not Hitting It
From the breezes of Seattle to the trade winds of St. Thomas, from the sunshine of St. Petersburg’s all-women’s week to the classic waters of Annapolis and the new frontier in Austin, Texas — the 2025 North U Performance Race Week series was one for the books. We put Sonars, J/80s, J/70s, and IC-24s through their paces, and our sailors got five-day masterclasses in every corner of racing.
With a coach on every boat, sailors dug into the essentials: sail trim, helming, tactics, teamwork, rules, and the ever-crucial “don’t-hit-that-mark” drill. On-water training was backed by shoreside seminars, video reviews that didn’t lie (yes, we saw that slow tack), and the kind of laughter that only comes when a group of sailors argue passionately about what “clear ahead” really means.
⚓ Big Themes from 2025
Starts & Positioning: We drilled “on time, on the line, at full speed, with clear air” until it stuck. The “Swirl” technique earned its place as a crowd favorite, as did the gentle reminder to break overlaps early if you actually want a lane.
Boat Speed: Speed is the ultimate problem solver. Small trim tweaks and weight shifts were magnified in our tuning sessions — recovery time from maneuvers became a metric, not just a feeling.
Downwind Energy (aka The Bubble): The downwind game turned into a masterclass in energy management. Crews learned to hover just on the energizing side of the bubble, with helms and trimmers communicating in calm, short-hand phrases: “up two,” “down three.”
Tactics & Strategy: The concentric-circle model (strategist → tactician → helm) helped crews keep the big picture in mind, avoiding the temptation to win a duel but lose the fleet.
Crew Choreography: From tacks to gybes to hoists, the best crews moved like dancers with clear lanes, smart ergonomics, and repeatable choreography.
Rules & Culture: Rules were treated as shields, not swords. We emphasized reputation, local fleet culture, and the timeless truths: starboard over port, leeward over windward, clear ahead over clear astern.
🏆 Coaching & Takeaways
Our coaches reminded us: the key is not to avoid mistakes, but to learn faster from them. Have fun failing. Documenting sail settings, recovery times, and playbook notes became second nature. Communication stayed calm and concise — because shouting “TRIM!” rarely makes anyone faster.
I could drop the numbers on you — 60 starts, 100 mark roundings — or brag about our world-class coaches. But the real closer? It’s fun. PRW is about trimming sails, dodging marks, and laughing with people who love this sport as much as you do. You’ll go home a better racer — and with a grin that only comes from a week spent on the water, learning hard and laughing harder.
That’s more practice than most sailors get in an entire season.
🌟 Highlights
- Seattle gave us orca fly-bys, just to show off.
- St. Thomas delivered postcard-perfect trades and IC-24 duels.
- St. Petersburg’s all-women’s PRW was packed with energy and camaraderie.
- Annapolis offered classic Chesapeake challenges (hello, light wind and current… and heavy wind and current).
- Austin brought Texas-sized enthusiasm, the most welcoming club experience and volunteer support and fresh waters to the program.
Every stop had its own flavor, but the through-line was the same: sailors left sharper, faster, and more confident — often without realizing just how much better they’d gotten until the final regatta standings.
🚀 Looking Ahead
The 2025 series turned sailors into racers and racers into winners. Stay tuned for the ever expanding 2026 schedule — St. Thomas, St. Pete and Austin are already on the calendar (with the biggest discount of the season – right now!) and there are more events being posted every month.
Want to learn more about Performance Race Week? Check out our events page, our YouTube page or join us for one of our regularly scheduled office hours where you can ask any question, about anything performance sailing related.
