LOS ANGELES, Calif. – After putting itself in good position after Friday's racing, the Navy offshore sailing team battled back following a rough Saturday to place fifth at the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup on Sunday.
 
One of 10 teams competing at the regatta in San Pedro, Calif., Navy got off to a good start on Friday by placing second in the first race, but the Midshipmen struggled in the second race after getting fouled by another competitor that pushed them back to seventh place, putting the Mids in fourth overall heading into Saturday.
 
On Saturday, two additional races were held late inside the harbor after a delay of four hours waiting for the fog to clear and wind to fill in. The Mids struggled in the two races, dropping to the seventh position in the 10-boat fleet.
 
Sunday was another challenging day of light winds and fog which often reduced visibility to less than 100 yards and made locating the race course marks difficult, as the Mids competed in four races on the final day. Looking to redeem themselves, they took two first-place finishes and a third-place tally before stumbling to eighth in the final race. Navy's efforts moved the team up to fifth overall, just one point out of third place and six points out of the top spot.
 
"Our crew started the day looking to redeem themselves following a disappointing couple of races on Saturday," said head coach Jahn Tihansky. "They identified major areas where they needed to improve and developed strategies to address those. Their planning was on target and I'm very proud of how they rallied back in the regatta and never gave up."
 
The Navy crew was led by junior skipper Javier Jimenez-Kane and included seniors Joey Zaladonis, Trey Currie and Jake Kiggans, juniors Jessie Sedlock, Renee Bonner and Rowan Suarez-Parmer and sophomore Elliott Brandicourt.
 
Navy returns to the water on March 25-26 for the Coast Guard Spring Invitational Regatta in New London, Conn.