Sara Stone ‘09 is First Female Navigator to win TP52 World Championship

In a significant milestone for competitive sailing, Sara Stone ’09 has claimed the title of first female navigator to win the TP52 World Championship. 

Established in 2012, the 52 Super Series is considered the “Formula 1” of sailing. It’s the world’s leading grand prix monohull yacht racing circuit, consisting of five regattas per season throughout Europe. Competitors take on windward-leeward courses on a simple first across the finish line format in real-time racing. The 2025 World Championship took place in Cascais, Portugal in July, where Stone sailed with the American Magic Quantum Racing team. 

As navigator, Stone describes her role as "everything electronic." Responsible for managing the multitude of systems and sensors aboard, her job requires ensuring systems are functioning correctly, collecting and interpreting data, and verbally delivering information clearly and concisely while on the race course. 
 
"I've got an iPad with access to everything. I need to be able to look at the data in real time, assess if the data reflects reality and pull out what information is critical for the right people at the right time. For instance, if the numbers say the wind direction is one thing, I need to decide if I believe the numbers or if I need to adjust the wind direction to better match what I see on the water. The computer is only capable of projection, so I've also got to add in reality, like wave state, to the computer calculations. And it must be consistent so that the team knows where to look and what they're looking at," she says. 

Stone rowed competitively at both Tabor and Dartmouth College, but did not have a background in competitive sailing. After graduation, Stone went to work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2015, she received honors for outstanding support and leadership in the CDC's response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.  

Inspired by the all-female Team SCA in the 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race, Stone began to consider sailing professionally. While completing her Master of Science degree from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine she spent as much time on the water as possible, gaining experience and building her network.  
 
"I am a very methodical and analytical person. I treated this move [from epidemiology to sailing] as a project management exercise, and I was the project. I assessed my value-add and the experience I already had and took stock of the gaps I needed to fill," she notes, reflecting on the process of making such a significant career shift.  

In 2018, she made the transition official and slowly began to get opportunities to race with different teams, saying yes to everything. Then, the 2022 Newport-Bermuda doublehanded return race was the first major project that she managed herself and went on to win,  leading to her being named a 2022 US Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Finalist. 

Her groundbreaking journey has been bolstered by her tenacity and ability to turn rejection into learning opportunities. "Every time I was told 'no,' I didn't take it personally. I used it as a method of figuring out what I was missing. Then I'd go get that experience or that certification so that it couldn't be a reason anymore."  

Today Stone is a full-time professional sailor with goals of racing around the world and competing in The America’s Cup. While some professionals choose to specialize in a certain role, Stone considers herself a "can-do-anything sailor." She currently competes as the navigator on board the TP52 Super Series Quantum Racing team, offside trimmer on the RC44 Team Aqua, and bow/pit on the Upwind by MerConcept OceanFifty Trimaran Racing Team. Last year, Stone was the Team Skipper and port side trimmer for the New York Yacht Club American Magic PUIG Women's America's Cup team, and she was previously a member of the US Sailing Team in the Nacra17 and the US Sail Grand Prix Team. 
 
Despite claiming the World Championship title, Stone's year on the water with American Magic Quantum Racing isn't finished yet. In August she heads to Puerto Portals, Spain followed by Porto Cervo, Italy in September. While she's making waves all over the world, her fellow Seawolves will be cheering her on from our own waterfront here at Tabor.