ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team competed in three road regattas this past weekend, as the Midshipmen were able to advance past the first round of the Open Atlantic Coast Championship and take fifth overall at both the Oyster Bowl and the Webb/Woollum Regatta.
 
Headlining the weekend was the first round of the Open Atlantic Coast Championship series in Boston, Mass., as the group that Navy was seeded in sailed at Harvard, while the other 18-team event was at MIT. The Mids struggled initially with the volatile winds on the Charles River and had a hard time finding consistency in both divisions, with up and down scores finding the team sitting between 7th and 9th overall for most of the event. In the end, Navy held on to a top-half finish by coming in ninth overall and advancing on to the championship round in two weeks. Sophomore Nathan Smith, senior Julia Christie and junior Ryan Wahba finished 11th in the "A" division, while Christie, junior Evie Blauvelt and sophomores Jack Welburn and Ellie Alex took seventh in the "B" division. 
 
The Oyster Bowl in St. Mary's City, Md., saw a women's event held on the same course as an open regatta, with a very puffy and shifty wind making it difficult to find consistency. In the open fleet, Navy finished fifth overall in the nine-team regatta, as junior Tanner Kelly and sophomore Darby Graham finished ninth in the combined division while sophomore Ava Farley, freshman George Carty and senior Hunter Anderson came in 10th. Navy finished also eighth in the women's fleet, with seniors Aubin Hattendorf, Madeline Smith and Catherine Aitken finishing 11th while freshman Kate Zurinskas and sophomore Ella Niehoff came in 15th in the combined division.
 
The Webb/Woollum Regatta was held over one day in Hampton, Va., as Navy came away fifth overall in the 10-team field, with Graham and junior Robert Ziman finishing second in the "A" division while freshmen Logan Hayes and Josie Sherry placed fifth in the "B" division.
 
Navy continues the fall season on Oct. 14-15 at the Nevins Trophy (Kings Point, N.Y.), Washington College Fall Fleet Race (Chestertown, Md.) and the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship Finals (New Haven, Conn.).