1st of August 2026

The best sailors in the world met on the shores of Lake Whittier to face off in the Almost Any Boat Challenge World Championship.   Between them, there were 2 world championships, 10 National Championships and too many to count regional championships.  These were the only competitors brave enough to represent their favorite boats and they did not disappoint.  A big thank you to Sail Wars for sponsoring this event and making it free this year and our volunteers Connie and Paul.  Thank you so much!

The weather was beautiful and sunny.  The winds were 1 to 5 mph for 9 of the ten races.  The drag race was blessed with winds around 7 or 8 mph.

Walter House dominated for the third year in a row and became our first three time champion with his IOM.  Walter ended up winning 6 of the 10 races.   Danny Thomas won the other 4 races and finished in second place.  Bart must have had the worst luck of the day as he served penalties at key times, dealt with light winds with his big scalpel marblehead, and even got stuck on the shoreline while dominating the drag race.  He was very consistant in finishing 3rd, 7 times and never finishing below 4th.   Speaking of 4th, Kyle Russell sailed his beautiful schooner to a solid 4th place finish and was the runner up in the "Best Looking Boat" voting.  All the participates had a blast again this year and can't wait for next year!

Rob Dutton won the prestigious Sail Wars Sportsman Award.