Now in its 9th year, the Chix Only Team Race has become a great promotional event for women’s sailing.  ”There are no other events like it during the year that allow women from high school age to college graduates to team race together,” says race organizer Liz Powers. “There is a mentoring aspect to Chix Only. All-Americans compete along-side high school sailors that have not had much opportunity to team race before. More experienced sailors are friendly and help younger sailors improve their team racing skills.”  The event will take place from 9am-5pm on August 18th at the Harvard University Boathouse.

The regatta is also unique in that it does not require sailors to register as a full team with three skippers and three crews. It gives women an opportunity to meet other female sailors and improve their team racing skills together.  The success of this event has spurred the collegiate Women’s Duplin Team Race hosted annually by Tufts University.

Basic history: Roger Williams University coach, Amanda Callahan, founded Chix Only Team Race 9 years ago and the event has grown ever since. Callahan ran the annual event at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI each summer for several years. Since 2010, the event has been held on the Charles River at Harvard University Boathouse.  The relocation to Boston has helped make the event even more accessible.  Janel Zarkowsky and Liz Powers are running the regatta in 2012. They are hoping that the regatta continues to grow in its reach and will inspire more women to take part in team racing in the future.

Girls can sign up for the event here (NO BOYS ALLOWED!). It’s a great event but don’t take my word for it, see who has already registered or listen to the competitors themselves…

Sixty-one girls sailed on 10 teams last year.  The Green Bears (combination of Dartmouth and Brown sailors) went a flawless 10-0 for the win.  Check out the results and rosters. More from US Sailing’s Roadshow recap of last year’s event.  Here’s the Facebook event.