Pensacola Yacht Club Women Capture GYA Knost Championship, Ending 53-Year Title Drought

PENSACOLA, Fla., Aug. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- After 53 years, the women of Pensacola Yacht Club are once again champions of the Gulf Yachting Association Knost Ladies Championship.

The PYC women's team captured the 89th annual championship Aug. 8-9 in Pass Christian, Miss., bringing the Knost Perpetual Trophy back to Pensacola for the first time since the club won three consecutive championships in 1971, 1972 and 1973.

The winning team included Katy Morgan, Mallory Edwards, Celia Houston, Aubin Hattendorf and Linnea Forsberg. Houston is a U.S. Coast Guard Academy graduate and student pilot, while Hattendorf and Forsberg are U.S. Naval Academy graduates and student Naval Flight Officers (NFOs).

The team was coached by Mike Levert and Hamrick Morgan. Levert, a sailor with national-level experience in the Melges 15 used for the Knost, was instrumental in preparing the team. Morgan, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and Naval Aviator based at NAS Pensacola, is the husband of team captain Katy Morgan.

"This is an incredible moment for Pensacola Yacht Club and especially for the women who have worked so hard to build and strengthen our women's sailing program," said PYC Vice Commodore Susan Domagala, leader of the Knost racing program. "To bring this championship home after 53 years is something we will remember for a very long time."

Established in 1938, the Knost Championship is the Gulf Yachting Association's premier women's interclub championship. Created as an invitational women's regatta in Pass Christian, it has become a longstanding Gulf Coast sailing tradition.

This victory also reflects PYC's connection to Pensacola's military community. With Naval Air Station Pensacola, the "Cradle of Naval Aviation," at the heart of the community, PYC created its U.S. Service Academy Membership Program to keep service academy sailors connected to the sport while pursuing their military careers in Pensacola.

Three members of this year's team have ties to Friends of Navy Sailing (FONS), which supports service academy sailors during and after their college careers. The connection between PYC, FONS and this year's team reflects the club's commitment to service-academy sailing in Pensacola.

The 2026 Knost victory adds another chapter to Pensacola Yacht Club's competitive sailing history and ends a 53-year championship drought.

SOURCE Pensacola Yacht Club