Youngblood Wins the Battle of the Brothers and Earns M32 Season Title

The whole season came down to the very last race. Miles Julien's Youngblood versus Charlie Julien's Rated X: two brothers, two boats, two points separating them in the standings. After the final gun fired on Biscayne Bay, it was the older brother who walked away with the title and the infamous M32 Rooster Trophy.

The Season: Youngblood Takes It All

Miles Julien's Youngblood claimed the 2026 M32 Miami Winter Series season championship with 55 points across four events — a two-point margin over his younger brother Charlie's Rated X (53 points), with Cy Thomson's Tuuci rounding out the podium in third with 50 points.

It's been a long road. This was Miles's fourth Miami Winter Series, and his first series title. Youngblood opened the season with a January victory, backed it up with second-place finishes in February and March, and then held on through a pressure-cooker finale to seal the win. Julien has sailed for years with the same team, tactician Carlos Robles, Bernardo Freitas, Moritz Spitzhauer, Leonard Takahashi, and Dan Morris.

"This is my first series win," said Miles. "It's been a long road — my fourth Miami Winter Series. Carlos, Mo, Bernie, Leo, and Dmo all did a fantastic job. Everyone has put in a ton of hard work. It's great to finally get a result like this."

The family angle is hard to miss. Last summer, it was Charlie who stood on top — Rated X claimed the 2025 Newport Summer Series title while Youngblood finished mid-fleet. This winter, the roles reversed. Miles built the most consistent program on the circuit and never let go. To make it even more layered: their father Bobby Julien's Dingbat finished fourth in the season standings. Three brothers — Miles, Charlie, and Jake — and their father, all racing M32s, all racing each other. The brotherly rivalry that's defined this season now heads north to Newport.

The Event: McKillen's Surge Locks Up the April Win

Ryan McKillen's Surge won the April event — the fourth and final stop of the winter series — with a commanding lead across three days. Tuuci finished second and Rated X third.

Defending M32 World Champion Surge dominated Day 1, going wire-to-wire in the first three races and building an event lead before the weekend was out. McKillen's team — tactician Taylor Canfield, Sam Loughborough, Stewart Dodson, and Will Tiller this weekend — continues to be among the most complete programs in the fleet.

Coach Morgan Trubovich gave us the Surge stats: 9 teams. 14 races. 5 race wins. 2.6 average points. 1 OCS. 3.9 average at mark 1. 13 boats gained upwind. 4 boats gained downwind.

"Yesterday we got off the line really well," said McKillen. "The pin end was definitely favored and we just went down there every time, elbows out. We had some good battles for the pin. That ended up getting us the first three races wire to wire. It was fun."

But Sunday brought a twist. McKillen wasn't on the boat. Ian "Pallets" Iles-Lee — Surge's shore crew, drone pilot, water-bottle filler, and general all-around team backbone — got the call Saturday night to take the helm. With just two prior sails in an M32 to his name, Iles-Lee stepped up and delivered an epic Day 3 that included a race win.

"I got the call last night then was like, 'Oh, I should probably get to bed,'" said Iles-Lee. "Most of my focus out there was locked into the speed numbers. Sometimes I had no idea if there were boats near me — there were a couple calls where I was like, 'Oh, there's a boat.'" For McKillen, watching from the dock, it was a full-circle moment.

"He's been with us for a couple of years," said McKillen. "He works hard, helps us stay on the water, the boat's always in good shape — we love him. It was pretty cool to give him the opportunity to take the helm and go bring it home. It was special for him, and special for me."

The Sandbar Cup: Distance Racing Around Biscayne Bay

Hello distance racing! As the final race of Saturday, the fleet took on the Sandbar Cup — a distance race that sent the nine-boat fleet on a 16m course all around Biscayne Bay. We sailed a lap on our reaching-start buoy racing course then zoomed south to Black Ledge before turning back north toward the finish. We dropped the M32s at the dock, hopped into the tenders, and zoomed off to the sandbar.

Surge crossed first in 1:03:35, with Bobby Julien's Dingbat second at 1:05:36 and Bill Ruh's Pursuit third at 1:06:32. Our Newport summer has lots of distance racing in the works - who will be the king of the distance race?

The Sandbar: Where Racing Ends

The Sandbar Cup finishes between buoys — but the real finale happened on the sandbar off Key Biscayne. Every team made it. The Great Scott, the M32's race committee vessel, served as floating party headquarters on Saturday after racing, and the tender boat from every team rafted up alongside. High dives off the tuna tower. Cold beers in hand. Families in the sun. Miami did what Miami does. We won't name names.

A Winter Season Beyond Racing

The 2026 season was about more than results on the leaderboard.

The M32's winter homebase, Shake-A-Leg Miami, is a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the joy of sailing and the water to people of all abilities. The M32 Class has called Shake-A-Leg home for over ten years — utilizing the facilities for storage, launching, and event operations. Annually, M32 owners support the organization through fundraising campaigns and community programming like this winter's Youth Night.

In March, the M32 fleet hosted Youth Night, bringing together M32/SailGP professional sailors for a Q&A panel with local ILCA, Opti, and 29er kids, followed by pizza and an America's Cup film. The goal: show the next generation of sailors that the path from a junior dinghy to a world-class team is real, and it's closer than they might think.

Throughout the winter, Tuuci provided the fleet's gathering place ashore — shaded lounges, luxury seating, and hospitality under the Tuuci umbrellas that became the social hub before and after every race day. In a class where the culture is as tight as the racing, that matters. Every team in one place; no one spread across separate docks or locations.

The M32 Class Association also organized a first-responder medical training course this winter, ensuring sailors in the fleet are equipped to handle an emergency on the water.

What's Next: Newport Awaits

The containers are shipping out of Coconut Grove soon, bound for Midtown Race Club in downtown Newport, Rhode Island. These docks are just behind the Midtown Oyster Bar, owned by M32 owner Larry Phillips. Post-racing sunsets with a Pell Bridge backdrop, Sun Cruiser can in-hand, and a plate of oysters with the mates. Vibe change.

Newport racing kicks off June 6 with the Rhody Around-the-Island Race and builds through the summer with the New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, weeknight Pro-Am racing all season long, the U.S. National Championship, the North American Championship, and the season's grand finale: the M32 World Championship, September 28 - October 3.

The international circuit runs parallel, with the Picasso Cup in Kristinehamn, Sweden (July 10-11), Tjörn Runt in Stenungsund (August 15), and the Centomiglia on Lake Garda (September 5-6).

And there's more to come. The M32 Class has some exciting announcements in store for Winter 2027 — stay tuned.