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Sailboats fill Delaware Bay for young sailors competition

Races bring teams from around the country to Lewes
Dozens of sailboats line up for the first race of the morning at the 2025 Optimist Atlantic Coast Championship Sept. 6. The Lewes Yacht Club hosted the national event for young sailors from all over the country. BILL SHULL PHOTOS
Bill Shull
September 10, 2025

Sunshine and 8 knots of wind made for perfect conditions on the first day of the 2025 Optimist Atlantic Coast Championship on Delaware Bay.

Lewes Yacht Club, along with United States Optimist Dingy Association, hosted the annual race event.

The USODA is a national organization dedicated to promoting and managing Optimist dinghy sailing in the U.S. It organizes events like the national championships, team races and international competitions.

In all, 157 youth sailors and 29 coach boats plied their way through the bay off Lewes Beach. Teams from 14 states were scheduled to compete.

Brian Newman of Hilton Head, S.C., brought his son to race.

“It’s a big-time event for the kids, so we came up to try something new in the Northeast and sail against the good kids,” he said.

After last-minute coaches instructions on the beach or by the yacht club, sailors climbed into their boats and headed out.

The boats are called “Opties” and are what kids learn to sail on until they get too big.

“A lot of the kids who come through the racing program will go to a four-year maritime school, the Naval Academy or sometimes the Coast Guard,” said Brian White, a professional surf and sail photographer whose son, Brad, drove the media boat during the races.

The boats were divided into fleets, based on experience.

The scoring is similar to golf, the lower the score the better.

The overall winner was Maxime McCulloch of the Lakewood Yacht Club in Seabrook, Texas.

The full list of winners can be found at theclubspot.com.

 

The University of Delaware’s wind turbine is a landmark for sailors.
Vicky Van Berkel of JK Sailing glides her boat through Delaware Bay. The weather was perfect for competitors out on the water.
John Kelly of the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club leads the pack during one of the races.
Alex Maier of the Annapolis Yacht Club team passes one of the orange markers.
Brooks Crawford of the Annapolis Yacht Club, left, steers his sailboat past Ryan Beck of the Riverside Yacht Club in Connecticut.
Sailboats come in a lot of different colors.
The team from Hampton, Va., is ready to hit the water.
Outside the Lewes Yacht Club, Koky Gugierrez gives sailing instructions to his team from Long Beach Island, N.J.
The beach in front of the Lewes Yacht Club is packed with sailboats before the races start.
The Annapolis Yacht Club team gets last-minute instructions from their coaches.
Some boats have interesting names, like Tough Cookie.
Brian Newman of Hilton Head, S.C., prepares his son’s boat for the day ahead.
Lachlan Curry of the Metedeconk River Yacht Club in New Jersey makes his way around one of the orange markers.
Claire Davis of the Coastal Elite Racing Team catches the wind on Delaware Bay.
Brooks Pardi of the Riverside Yacht Club in Connecticut makes his way through the course.
Brooks Crawford of the Annapolis Yacht Club checks out the course ahead.

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Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.

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