ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy intercollegiate sailing team capped off its 2020-21 season with its second national title within a week as the Midshipmen won the ICSA Gill Coed National Championship that took place in Annapolis over Monday and Tuesday.
 
The Midshipmen finished first overall with 210 points beating out second-place Stanford and third-place Jacksonville who finished with 236 points and 260 points, respectively.
 
The regatta started with a light southeasterly breeze that built and shifted south throughout the morning on Monday. Navy started off hot and won the first race and staying steady through the first six races, eventually building a 30-point lead on the field before the lunch break. After the break on Monday, the wind had steadied out from the south and built to the low to mid-teens, leaving near perfect racing conditions. Navy stayed hot early in the afternoon session and held the lead at the end of day one.
 
With two-thirds of the event complete and a 30-point lead over Charleston, Navy sailed conservatively on the second day of competition and made sure no teams were able to get into striking distance. Stanford, Jacksonville and Georgetown all came on strong, but in the end, Navy's lead was insurmountable and the team went on to claim victory in the regatta. The Midshipmen won the Henry A. Morss Trophy for the first time since 1995. JC Hermus and Kimmie Leonard finished second overall in the A division with 88 points and Connor Bayless and Fiona Lobon were third in the B division with 122 points. The trio of Sean Linden, Gray Benson and Jonah Hatt were alternates for Navy at the championship.
 
"Our two National Championships this spring are a huge accomplishment for the team and are indicative of the hard work and dedication that all our team members, past and present have put into making us a top-flight college sailing program," head coach Ian Burman said. "We also are extremely thankful to everyone who helped make this year's championships possible in an ever-changing and unsure environment. Severn Sailing Association, Eastport Yacht Club, Annapolis Sailing School and Annapolis Yacht Club all offered up their facilities so we could split up the teams and reduce the overall crowd size. The Naval Academy Administration and the Naval Academy Athletic Association approved our plan to move these events here when the COVID situation was looking bleak and worked with us to help host world-class regattas. Georgetown University lent us FJs hulls to use while we are awaiting warranty replacements for ours. Old Dominion University provided a boat for the ICSA rep and we had a fantastic group of volunteers that served as race officers, judges, umpires and in communications.  The Navy sailing program provided us with dozens of coach and race committee boats and worked with our events while also very busy with summer training kicking off.  We also had a ton of support from parents, friends, alumni and other supporters who were out on the water cheering us on or sending encouragement if they could not be here in person.  We couldn't have done this without all of the support we received.
 
"The group I would like to thank the most though is our team and our coaches," Burman continued. "Our players and coaches were all in to make these events happen.  From rigging, dee-rigging, moving boats, serving on race committee, making repairs, sorting sails, serving as site managers and competing on the water, our team displayed amazing camaraderie and attitude. This past month showed me that we have an amazing team culture and an amazing group of midshipmen and coaches and I am extremely grateful and proud for the opportunity to work with them. It was a unique and challenging year, but I will always remember this team and what we all accomplished together."
 
Navy capped off its 2020-21 season where it finished with two national championships and placed in the top-10 of all three doublehanded national championships.
 
ICSA Coed National Championship Standings
1. Navy – 210 points
2. Stanford – 236
3. Jacksonville – 260
4. Georgetown – 265
5. College of Charleston – 273
6. UC Santa Barbara – 287
7. Tulane – 304
8. Coast Guard – 314
9. Roger Williams – 332
10. George Washington – 333
11. Brown – 343
12. Hobart and William Smith – 354
13. Boston College – 368
14. Merchant Marine – 368
15. Rhode Island – 411
16. St. Mary's – 424
17. North Carolina State – 426
18. Oregon – 648