NEW ORLEANS, La. – Navy's intercollegiate sailing team finished second out of eight teams at the Nelson Roltsch Team Race hosted by Tulane in the Midshipmen's first competition of their 2020 spring schedule.
With Tulane hosting the 2020 national championship later this year, the eight-team field was comprised of many probable national championship participants looking to get an early look at the sailing conditions in New Orleans. On the weekend, the wind was out of the east-northeast at 8-15 knots with significant chops on Saturday and Sunday.
Early on, Navy and Charleston showed that it would be a two-horse race for the top spot at the regatta as both teams were blowing out the rest of the field. With the format of the regatta being three full round robins, the Navy-Charleston races, which happened to be near the end of each round, proved to be decisive.
In the first race between the two teams, the start looked even at first but when two of the three Navy boats were called over early and forced to restart, Charleston quickly converted to a 1-2 combination and held through to the finish despite a strong fight from
Connor Bayless and
Kimmie Leonard. In round two, the Cougars once again had the advantage off the line but it was closer than the first race and
JC Hermus and
Emma Remis were the first to the top of the course. Charleston was in a position to win the round with a 2,3,4 combination, however, a slight mistake from one of the Cougar boats opened the door at the first mark where
Parker Loftus and
Sally Johnson caught a piece of the Charleston boat and flipped the race into Navy's favor, going 1,4,5 down the run. The race got very condensed at the bottom of the course and due to a Cougar foul, that knocked Hermus and Remis out of first, the Midshipmen were losing 2,3,6 after mark four. Navy went right into the play for that situation and was able to pull the necessary passbacks moving into a 2,3,4 and taking control of the race and eventually winning the second race 1,3,4.
The regatta was all tied up when the teams met again with each team boasting records of 18-1 in the second to last flight. The wind had lightened up and the chop made acceleration very difficult. Navy looked to be in a good position on the final approach to the start but a wind shift, coupled with an awkward set of waves prevented the Midshipmen from taking advantage and found themselves trailing off the line yet again. Navy fought hard and forced the Cougars to work hard and retain the lead but in the end, the deficit off the line proved too much to overcome.
In the final standings, Navy finished the weekend with a record of 19-2 and finished second out of eight teams.
"Despite the narrow defeat, the event provided us a great deal of regatta reps early in the season, along with a good look at the nationals venue and a firm idea of where we currently stand," head coach
Ian Burman stated. "We were also able to learn what we need to do to get to where we need to be."
Next up, Navy hosts a Quad Scrimmage in Annapolis on Saturday and Sunday, while also sending a team to Charleston, S.C., for the Phebe Corckran King Women's Regatta.
