ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy offshore sailing team competed at a pair of regattas in Annapolis over the weekend, highlighted by the Midshipmen coming from behind to place first in the Shields Trophy.
 
Racing at the Hospice Cup on Saturday, junior Rowan Suarez-Parmer and her Constellation crew were the top performing J/105s crew for Navy, taking ninth place out of the 14-boat field. Junior Pat Fisher and his Dreadnought crew finished right behind the Constellation in 11th, while fellow junior Nathan Bramwell and his Avenger team took 13th.
 
In the PHRF A2 class, senior JT Pitts led his Tenacious crew to sixth and fellow senior Jake Kiggans's Gallant crew were seventh out of the nine entries in their class.
 
Opening the Shields Trophy Regatta on Saturday was the Navy crew captained by senior Virendra Ghate, as the Mids scored 1-5-1 in the first three races of the series and stood in second place, one point behind Kings Point, who posted a trio of second-place finishes.
 
Sunday saw Ghate's crew maintain solid consistency despite committing a couple of fouls that cost them valuable points. In the end, the Midshipmen sailed well enough to pass Saturday's leader Kings Point and also remain ahead of second-place Coast Guard to claim overall victory in the six-race series.
 
The Shields Trophy-winning crew for Ghate included senior Trey Currie on tactics, senior Jon Middlebrooks on jib trim, senior Jackson Dupaix on main trim, junior Javier Kane on helm, junior Jessie Sedlock on bow, junior Renee Bonner on spin trim and sophomore Elliott Brandicourt at mast.
 
"Our crew at the Shields Trophy sailed strong today to come back and win," said head coach Jahn Tihansky. "I also want to say thanks to all the volunteers and team members who were on hand to assist with running the events this weekend."
 
The Navy offshore sailing team will now head to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta on Friday-Sunday, Sept. 23-25 in Chicago, Ill., as well as the Annapolis Yacht Club's Race to Solomons on Saturday, Sept. 24.