ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy intercollegiate sailing team placed fifth in a pair of conference championships. Navy took fifth at the MAISA Women's Fall Championship and the MAISA Match Race Championships on a very windy weekend.

The MAISA Women's Fall Championship was held this year at Old Dominion University and the top 18 women's teams in the mid-Atlantic were in attendance. When the teams arrived it was too windy to launch the boats, so the competitors waited for the wind to subside. It never did on Saturday, so racing had to wait until Sunday.

On Sunday, the wind was much more manageable and the fleet was able to get in six races per division. The fleet was very tight throughout the day and there was little margin for error. Navy wound up fifth overall, good enough to qualify for the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship in Charleston on November 12-13. Hannah Hughes and Carlyn Sawdy-Bowes finished fourth in A division while Molly Robertson and Molly Hanson were fourth in B.

At the MAISA Match Race Championship, it was very windy both days, but Navy did race. After the first flight, the wind picked up and was steadily in the 20-30 knot range for the rest of the regatta. Navy was racing in the Merchant Marine Academy's fleet of Sonars, but were prohibited from using spinnakers due to the high winds. The rotation went slowly due to numerous small breakdowns, but even though the fleet was regularly racing in 30 knots, no major breakdowns occurred.

Navy finished the round robin with a 3-4 record, one win shy of a berth in the semi-finals and wound up fifth out of eight teams. Navy's team consisted of Michael Madigan, Jimmy Madigan, Nicholas Gartner and Emma Remis.