Racing

Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick and Team Vigilant Extend Lead as Fresh Faces Take Day 3 Wins

By Sailing Times Newsroom·19 September 2026·5 min read

NEWPORT, R.I. — New faces stepped into the spotlight on Day 3 of the Women’s International Championship, presented by State Street Investment Management and SPY.

But at the top of the leaderboard, the picture remained unchanged.

Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick and Team Vigilant strengthened their grip on the inaugural edition of the historic regatta as the fleet passed the halfway mark, with seven of the scheduled 12 races now completed.

Team Vigilant has built a remarkable 30-point lead, having finished no race lower than fourth and averaging just over two points per race.

Local sailor Hannah Swett and Team MO-Amundson continued their steady rise through the standings and now sit second on 46 points.

However, the battle behind them remains extremely tight.

Michelle Lahrkamp and Fair American are third on 48 points, followed by Sarah Douglas and Team Defiant on 49, Hannah Diamond and the Thames Swans on 50, Ragna Agerup and Team Ursa Minor on 52, Nicole Breault and the She-Wolves on 54, and Katie Spithill and Shaw and Partners Women Racing on 56.

With as many as five races still to come, Team Vigilant has established a commanding position at the top.

For the seven teams separated by just 10 points around second place, however, the fight for the podium is becoming the immediate priority.

Grapengeter-Rudnick and her crew have repeatedly shown an ability to recover from difficult positions. In the third race of the day, Team Vigilant was down in 17th place towards the end of the first beat, yet fought back to finish fourth.

In the opening race, they were as deep as 10th before recovering to take the win.

Stopping that momentum will be a major challenge for the rest of the fleet.

Fresh Winners Break Through

While Team Vigilant focuses on protecting its 30-point advantage, the remaining 19 teams are reassessing what is still within reach.

At this stage of a regatta, a race victory can become an important target for teams outside the podium fight.

Two teams from the lower half of the standings achieved exactly that on Day 3.

Christina Wolfe and Cascadia Sailing have struggled to find their rhythm during the regatta so far. But in Race 6, everything came together.

After an average start from the middle of the line, the team gradually worked its way forward and eventually overtook Katie Spithill just before the finish.

As the finishing cannon fired, cheers erupted from both the sailors and their supporters aboard the spectator boats.

Gojnich and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Strike Back

Starting has been an ongoing challenge for Karyn Gojnich and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron team, and Race 7 brought another difficult beginning as the Australian team was among the last boats across the starting line.

But a late start, particularly towards the windward end of the line, can sometimes offer an opportunity for a clean exit and an early shift to the right.

Gojnich and her crew took advantage of both.

With Mina Ferguson on the helm and Annie Wilmot calling tactics, the team found the pressure and began climbing through the fleet.

A bold layline call brought them around the mark in fourth.

Laura van Veen and DutchSail controlled the early stages of the five-leg race, but a difficult rounding at the first leeward gate allowed the fleet to close the gap.

Gojnich and her crew then took control at the second windward mark.

It was never comfortable, but the Australian team successfully defended the lead on the final upwind leg and crossed the finish line first to claim the final race of the day.

From the Sailors

“I think the third race today was the culmination of all three races. Each time we got better, and we were certainly telling ourselves we’ve got to get off the line, and we’ve got to get a clear lane. And we managed that. Once we were able to get the boat going, I have to say, well done to our team in the middle, the trim team, because we’re pretty happy with our speed around the course. And then, our tactician Annie just placed in the right spot.”

— Karyn Gojnich, Helmswoman, Team Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron

“As a team, we started practicing and training for this about March of 2025. So it’s been a long time coming where we’ve nailed down the roles of the boat, understanding our strengths and weaknesses and working on those weaknesses. Time in the boat really pays dividends when you’re actually spending a lot of time on the water with all of our teammates, as well as surrounded by other boats. The IC37 class throughout the last two summers is a really strong fleet, so being able to line up with them five times over the summer was a really nice opportunity for us to train for this event.”

— Carmen Cowles, Crew, Team Megan Grapengeter-Rudnick and Vigilant

“We have been working really hard on our boat speed. A lot of the people in the speed team on our boat have more ocean sailing experience, so working on keeping a tight lane has been our focus, and today in that second race today, we really figured that out. We had our speed. It felt great, so that was awesome.”

— Analucia Clarkson, Crew, Team Christina Wolfe and Cascadia Sailing

With seven races now completed, the Women’s International Championship enters its decisive phase. Team Vigilant has built a significant cushion at the front, while the battle for the remaining podium places remains wide open with five races still potentially available.