ST. MARY’S CITY — Willem van Waay, a 1997 graduate of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, won the J/22 World Championship in New Orleans in October, the 12th world title of a professional sailing career that began the year after he left the Seahawks.
The win also gave van Waay a distinction no other sailor holds: world championships in all four J/Boats classes, according to a Nov. 3 announcement from the college. The college did not list the other three classes.
A hurricane cut the regatta in half
The championship was scheduled for four days, but a hurricane reduced it to two. Race officials still got seven races in, and van Waay’s boat controlled the 47-boat fleet from the start, winning five of the first six.
The rough water suited his team. “Fortunately it was choppy and quite windy which was our specialty,” van Waay told the college.
After six races, the team’s line read five firsts and one sixth. That lead was large enough that the crew could sit out the final race and still be crowned world champions, van Waay said.
The college’s announcement did not name van Waay’s crew or list the final point margin.
Shaped by a rising Seahawks program
Van Waay, who grew up in Coronado, California, sailed for St. Mary’s College in the 1990s, when Varsity Sailing Coach Adam Werblow’s program was building a national reputation and regularly finishing on the podium at national regattas.
Werblow said van Waay’s real gift is lifting the people around him. “He is not only the ultimate competitor, he is the ultimate teammate!” Werblow told the college, adding that van Waay teaches, prepares and competes harder than anyone, and does it joyfully.
Van Waay turned professional in 1998 and now spends more than 200 days a year on the water. He told the college he has been fortunate to do what he loves for almost 30 years with a supportive family behind him.
One goal remains. Van Waay was a 2019 finalist for US Sailing’s Rolex Yachtsman of the Year award and said he would like to win it before he retires, while acknowledging it is no easy task.
A second alumni world title this fall
Van Waay’s title is the second world championship for a St. Mary’s College sailing alumnus in about a month. Anthony Kotoun, a 2000 graduate, won the 2026 Melges 24 World Championship, the Chronicle reported in October.
The current Seahawks are adding to the pipeline as well: freshman Owen Fretwell earned a spot at the college singlehanded nationals this fall.
