ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy's offshore sailing team had three boats compete at the Annapolis Yacht Club Doublehanded Distance Race where the Midshipmen finished seventh, eighth and ninth overall this past weekend.
 
In its second year, the regatta was started to provide a training and testing opportunity for many teams who have their sights set on the 2021 Summer Olympics where mixed-gender doublehanded long-distance racing will debut.
 
Competition began at noon on Saturday and took competitors around a 92-mile course that featured eight legs between Baltimore Harbor and the Choptank River mouth, which took just over 24 hours to complete. While the weather was pleasant, the wind was mostly light to moderate with some cruel dead spots that the fleet had to navigate around. The temperature then dropped to the mid-40s overnight punishing those not adequately prepared. The conditions required crews to make constant adjustments to their sail trim and navigation tactics for best performance while also maintaining situational awareness for the numerous ships and tugs that transited through the course throughout the race.
 
Navy's three crews battled the fleet and each other from start to finish and were often near one another. The lead amongst the Midshipmen's three boats changed multiple times as one would exploit a patch of wind and sail around the other two before falling into a dead zone of their own and mixing it up again.
 
At the finish, Navy's top boat was Avenger sailed by Don Poirier and Ashley Koenig who held off a hard-charging Dreadnought, which crossed the line less than 30 seconds behind Avenger. Dreadnought was sailed by the pair of Paul Jervis and Grace Vandegrift as the Midshipmen's top-two boats finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 11-boat J/105 fleet. Navy's third boat, Constellation, was sailed by Katie Boyle and Matt Gillcrist and they, unfortunately, fell into a hole near the last turning mark and lost ground to finished 20 minutes behind their counterparts in ninth.
 
"This unique event provided our teams with an experience unlike they had ever seen before," head coach Jahn Tihansky said. "While clearly fatigued, they were all ready to jump back in and do it again! As a coach, I could not be more proud of how they performed!"
 
Next up, Navy will compete at the Annapolis Yacht Club's Fall Series which is set for October 17-18.