GL52 North American Fleet

The early bird truly did get the worm yesterday. Race Committee made the decision to move the racing up two hours to try and catch as much wind as possible before it died. So with a few extra yawns and a lot of extra caffeine, teams made it to the start line for a 10am warning.

Looking for redemption after a Southern Series that fell below their expectations, Katana came out firing with a victory in race 6, giving them a touch of breathing room in their head to head battle with Wizard. In the final race of the event, Wizard worked through the shifts and light pressure to finish ahead of Katana but it wasn’t quite enough to emerge the victor, giving Katana the event win.

Windquest had their best day of the regatta, snatching third place from Heartbreaker, a formidable opponent who struggled to gain a foothold with the challenging conditions.

In the end the fleet finished with Katana atop, winning this event for the third year in a row. In second was Wizard with Windquest in third. Heartbreaker, Mockingbird and Fjord followed respectively.

The fleet now heads into the offshore portion of the series with Queens Cup, Chicago Mac and Bayview Mac on deck. The next inshore event is Ugotta Regatta in Harbor Springs at the end of July!

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A little bit of waiting, a little bit of sailing.

Wind took a little bit longer than expected to fill in, so crews spent some time on shore, and enjoying the Michigan sunshine.

Even once the breeze filled in, difficult conditions persisted. Race 1 saw 30+ degree shifts that kept everyone on their toes. Race 2 was shifty and saw the added challenge of dying pressure. We were able to eke out race 2 but with no new breeze on the horizon, we were forced to call racing for the rest of the day.

Committed to getting at least one race in, RC will have a first warning at 10am. So sailors better drink some coffee and get moving, race day is starting bright and early!

A mix of mostly skill, and a little luck, tackling yesterday’s conditions has pushed Katana into first with 11 points. Wizard is behind them with 13, a narrow lead of 1 point over Heartbreaker. Windquest, Mockingbird and Fjord round out the rest of the fleet.

Aside from racing, we were joined on the water by members of our Community Partner, . Based in Grand Rapids, Jolly Madison works to introduce sailing and related STEM lessons to students of various ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Great to have you on the water!

We’ll be racing early so check back at 10am EST for our first warning!

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Today was wet and wild! As long as you take out most definitions of the word wild and leave just the wet. With periods of rain and overall light pressure, competitors and race committees, were challenged by the race conditions.

Currently leading is Wizard in first with 7 total points; however, they are not alone at the top; as they are currently tied with Katana . The ties don’t stop there. Winquest and Heartbreaker are currently tied with eight points sitting just below Wizard and Katana.

We will once again move racing up by an hour and start at 11 AM Eastern standard time. The plan is to run three races and hope that the wind fills in and the rain files out.

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Oh boy does it feel good to be back on the water racing! The energy was high and vibes were good as the GL52 Fleet took to the waters of Lake Michigan for our first practice day of our 2026 Summer Series!

There are 6 boats racing Big Red Regatta, our inaugural 2026 Summer Series event. Katana, Fjord, Heartbreaker, Mockingbird, Windquest and Wizard are all locked in and ready to battle it out on the water. Special shout out to Fjord, joining the fleet for our entire Summer Series. We are so excited to have you on the race course!

Racing has been moved up due to potential bad weather and the first warning is scheduled for 11 AM. You can stay up-to-date on all the racing by watching our live stream! Visit the link in our bio!

📸: Anna Suslova