Championship of Champions Takes on the E Scow

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20 teams of competitors will descend on Wawasee Yacht Club for the 2026 Championship of Champions, which invites US sailors who are National, North American and World Champions to compete to see who will be crowned the ultimate Champion.    

This year’s event will be held at Wawasee Yacht Club in Syracuse, Indiana September 16-20. Competitors will go head-to-head in the E Scow, a high-performance, 28-foot one-design scow with an asymmetrical spinnaker and retractable dual bilgeboards. The class is extremely popular in the Midwest and East Coast, with the National championship typically attracting over 70 boats. 

“The Wawasee Yacht Club and our partners from the E Scow class could not be more excited to host this prestigious event.  We have been planning for several years to make it a world class regatta and will be integrating leading edge technology like Vakaros RaceSense and MarkSetBots,” said Event Chair Casey Call. “We look forward to introducing these talented competitors to our club and this amazing class.” 

The 2026 entry list includes multiple past event winners, each going for another try at the Jack Brown Trophy. Peter Keck, the 2022 winner and representative for the C Scow Class, is sure to put up a fight as a Scow expert. Mike Ingham, the 2002 and 2014 champion representing the Sunfish class, is looking to reclaim the trophy after a 12-year hiatus.  

Meanwhile, one Jack Brown-winning crew – Matt Reynolds (a windsurfing champion), who won with Craig Leweck in 1990 – has come to challenge as a skipper. There’s something about the special nature of the Championship of Champions that keeps sailors coming back for more – that is, if they can become a one-design champion during the qualification window!  

“The C of C is a unique event where everyone is a current National, North American or World Champion!  The caliber of the sailors ensures that the racing will be close, and the round robin format in equalized one-designs eliminates the chance of boat bias.  Sailing this event in E-Scows may give an initial edge to those with Scow experience, but these sailors will figure out the boats quickly to keep the racing tight,” said Betsy Alison, Director of Adult Programs for US Sailing. 

Competition is sure to be tight, and without a representative from the E Scow class, there’s no clear frontrunner for this championship. Follow all the action on the US Sailing Facebook and Instagram pages!