ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team opened up the fall portion of its 2022-23 season with a pair of home regattas and one away event.
 
The most impactful regatta of the weekend was the Laser South in Annapolis, where 20 sailors from the southern half of the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association were vying for nine berths in the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship. The first day of competition saw very marginal conditions and only two races were completed in very light and shifty winds with extreme chop from boat traffic, while the second day was rainy and much windier, as seven more races were completed before the 3 p.m. cutoff time.
 
Navy senior Gavin McJones got off to a rough start on Saturday, but settled into his groove on Sunday. After posting solid scores early in the day, McJones closed out the event with a 2,1,1 score line in the last three races to finish his climb all the way from 12th to third overall by the end of the day, easily advancing on to the men's singlehanded championship next month, being hosted by Navy Oct. 1-2. Three other Midshipmen were in the competition, with Trenton Shaw finishing 11th, freshman Jack Welburn coming in 12th and sophomore Tanner Kelly finishing 16th. 
 
On the same course as the Laser South, the Navy Women's Fall Regatta featured seven teams sailing in a combined-division format in a fleet of Z420s. The conditions were the same for the women as they were for the men, with much better racing to be had on the second day of competition.
 
After nine races, the top three teams were separated by just 10 points, with Navy finishing a close third behind Georgetown and St. Mary's College. In the 14-boat combined division, Navy sophomore Evie Blauvelt and junior Julia Christie dominated their way to the top spot in the 'A' division, finishing with less than half the points of the second-place team and never finishing worse than fourth in a race. Junior Aubin Hattendorf, sophomore Izzy Fadullon, junior Madeline Smith and sophomore Maggie Schuler manned the 'B' division for the Midshipmen, finishing 12th.
 
The Mids also fielded two squads at the 16-team Riley Cup, hosted by Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia. The event had shifty winds both days, but solid and sailable 4-14 knot winds from the east-southeast allowed for 13 races per division, as big puffs and shifts meant that races were never over until the end and the sailors had to stay calm and focused throughout.
 
One of Navy's teams was consistent enough to remain near the front of the field throughout the event and hold a narrow lead after the opening day. After a tight battle on the second day, the Midshipmen fell to second overall, just 11 points behind first-place Georgetown. Newcomers Nathan Smith and Ellie Alex finished second in the 'A' division, while sophomores Cooper Walshe and Linnea Forsberg took third in Division 'B'. Navy's other team featured two skippers who had been primarily in the crew throughout their careers and used the event to gain valuable experience moving forward, as they finished eighth overall, with senior Colin MacGillivray and freshman Margo Cicero finishing 10th in the 'A' division while sophomore Ryan Wahba and freshman Alex Brenia were seventh in Division 'B'.
 
Navy continues the fall slate with the Chesapeake Invitational and the Faye Bennet MAISA Women's Singlehanded Championship, with both events taking place Sept. 17-18 in Annapolis.