Defending champion Allie Blecher arrived in Annapolis with a point to make, and on the opening day of the 2026 Santa Maria Cup she made it loudly. The American skipper and her Team Baam crew posted eight wins from nine races to lead the field at Eastport Yacht Club, where ten of the world’s best women match racing teams have gathered for Stage 2 of the Women’s World Match Racing Tour.
Sweden’s Anna Östling and Team Wings sit just behind alongside the Netherlands’ Julia Aartsen and Team Out of the Box, both on identical 7-1 records. Three teams separated by a single loss — the standings could hardly be tighter heading into the final days.
Blecher was measured after a commanding day on the water. “We had a pretty good day,” she said.
“I made a few mistakes but we fought back and the racing was fair, which was good. The conditions are tricky but that is my favourite type of racing because you are never out of it and you are never safely ahead.”
The event has drawn a genuinely international fleet from six nations, but the headline debut belongs to China’s Lijia Xu, the Olympic gold medallist who won the Laser Radial class at London 2012. Xu is sailing with a team of local Annapolis sailors, new to match racing after two decades of fleet and dinghy competition.
“This is my first Women’s World Tour event and I feel very fortunate to be here,” said Xu. “Even after losing a few races today, I feel very happy because we are learning more after every race. After 20 years of dinghy and fleet sailing, there are still many synergies with match racing as you still need to know how to make a boat go fast and call the wind shifts.”
Canadian Tara Golonka from British Columbia had a day of sharp contrasts, opening with two wins before the depth of the fleet caught up with her in the afternoon. “It is super cool to be on the Women’s World Tour for the first time,” she said.
“We are quite new to match racing so it has been awesome to compete at this high level. Today we started strongly and then struggled later in the day, but we have been learning all the time.”
Racing continues through Saturday 6 June, when the 2026 Santa Maria Cup champion will be crowned.
