ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy offshore sailing team led after both days of racing to win the 2019 McMillan Cup, which is the East Coast Championship for collegiate big boat sailing and it is the oldest trophy in college sailing.
 
The first day of racing featured a slow-building wind from the south which, allowed the fleet to race four times in the shifty winds that built throughout the day.
 
Rhode Island came out strong and recovered from a bad start to win the first race of the weekend. However, Navy found its stride and led the second race wire-to-wire with Rhode Island finishing in sixth out of 10 teams. The back-and-forth day between the Midshipmen and Rams continued with Rhode Island winning the third race and Navy placing fifth. In the final race of the first day, the Midshipmen got off to a strong start and then pulled away from the fleet to win their second race of the weekend and the Rams placed third.
 
Following the first day of competition, Navy held a slight one-point lead over Rhode Island, while Coast Guard and Kings Point were tied for third just five points back of the Midshipmen.
 
In a challenging second day of racing with torrential rain and tough wind, the Midshipmen came out strong and ran away from the fleet. With a one-point lead heading into Sunday, Navy posted scores of 3,1,1 to finish 10 points ahead of the field. Day two started with winds at 14 knots and built to the mid-20s as portions of Tropical Storm Nestor passed through the Mid-Atlantic. 
 
During the fifth race of the weekend and first of Sunday, a left shift came in after the start and skewed weather leg that only the crews on course side were able to adjust too. With visibility reduced in the rain, most boats hit the left hard and dropped back in the field. Webb won the race wire-to-wire with Kings Point in second and the Midshipmen placed third.
 
The sixth race of the event featured winds continuing to build and a no genoa sail limitation was imposed on the fleet. Navy took advantage of conditions in the race and took a commanding lead to win the race with Massachusetts Maritime finishing second with Rhode Island placing third.
 
In the final race of the weekend, the wind increased over 20 knots, which added a no spinnaker restriction to the no genoa sail. Most teams in the field tucked a reef into their mains to keep boats manageable in the increasing wind. For the second time in as many races, the Midshipmen took advantage of the conditions and led wire-to-wire to claim the overall title. Coast Guard finished second overall in the regatta, followed by Rhode Island in third.
 
Don Poirier skippered Navy's team for the weekend and the rest of the crew included Matthew McClelland, Tim Forman, Kevin Navarro, Ethan Falsone, Anirudh Murali, Matt Gillcrist and Elizabeth Hauschild. 
 
"We would like to thank PRO Bruce Bingman and the NASS RC team of volunteers, who also got to enjoy the day's conditions, for getting in a full slate of races," head coach Jahn Tihansky said following the weekend. "We also thank the numerous midshipmen who also helped out and thank you to our jury led by Dan Trammell."
 
Navy is back in action this coming weekend for the J-105 Chesapeake Bay Championship in Annapolis.