American skipper Luke Lawrence and crew Mohammed Asif have won the 2025 Vintage Gold Cup, becoming the fourth different skipper to claim the wooden Star championship since its 2017 debut on Michigan's Gull Lake.
Lawrence and Asif scored third, fifth, second and ninth aboard Bacardi to finish on 19 points, seven clear of two-time champion Lars Grael and Marco Lagoa. Jack Jennings took third, his second consecutive podium.
The victory completed a gradual progression for Lawrence, who finished eighth as skipper in 2019, then crewed for Josh Powell's runner-up campaign in 2023 and Mark Pincus's fifth-place finish in 2024. Asif's result was more dramatic: he finished 30th as skipper in 2024 before switching roles to win.
The 2025 championship was sailed without a discard, rewarding consistency over individual race wins. Greg Smith won twice but finished 12th overall. Lawrence and Asif won no races.
The championship has grown from 12 boats in 2017 to 32 entries in both 2023 and 2024, with 30 boats racing in 2025. Five skippers have appeared in every edition sailed through 2025: Arthur Anosov, John MacCausland, Jon VanderMolen, Don Parfet and Andy Ivey.
Anosov has been the most consistent performer, finishing inside the top ten at all eight championships with three podiums and five top-five finishes. He won three races in 2022 but finished fourth overall when every result counted.
Paul Cayard dominated the early years, winning three of the first four editions. He sailed the inaugural championship aboard the 1964 Olympic gold medal-winning Star boat GEM IX. Eivind Melleby claimed titles in 2019 and 2024, while Grael won in 2022 and 2023.
Weather has repeatedly shaped results. The 2018 championship managed only three races after two days of waiting. The 2022 title went to Grael without him winning a race, while Anosov's three victories that year were undermined by an 18th and an eighth. The 2023 fleet completed three races on day one, then waited through two days without further racing.
The event was founded by Don Parfet and Jon VanderMolen to bring restored wooden Stars back into competition. VanderMolen and Mike Ward restored seven boats in 11 months for the inaugural championship. The restorer who built 13 of 16 Olympic Stars in 2012, VanderMolen has remained competitive himself, finishing sixth in 2025 aboard Stella Blue.
