ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team competed in two away regattas this weekend, racing in the MAISA Women's Fleet Race Championship as well as the Admiral's Cup.
The MAISA Women's Fleet Race Championship, held at St. Mary's College in nearby St. Mary's City, Md., saw 14 teams in attendance, as racing began with a building southerly breeze and many races were completed early on before competition was halted in the early afternoon due to approaching storms. After the storm passed, the teams attempted to race again but the wind was too light and only one "A" division race was completed. On Sunday, the westerly wind was very shifty, but all remaining races were completed. However, a redress request was submitted by Old Dominion and a hearing determined that the last race of the regatta would need to be re-sailed due to a race committee error. With all of the race committee boats relaunching, the sailboats re-rigged and the sailors changing back into their sailing gear, the last race was held again three hours after the initial end of the regatta.
Navy's "B" division team of juniors
Aubin Hattendorf and
Catherine Aitken were ready to go for the redo and led the final race from the start to score a convincing win and close out the weekend. The Midshipmen wound up fourth overall, as sophomore
Evie Blauvelt and junior
Julia Christie finished third in the "A" division while Hattendorf and Aitken placed eighth in the "B" division. Additionally, Blauvelt was named an All-MAISA First Team skipper at the conclusion of the regatta for her performance on the waters this season.
The Mids' second regatta of the weekend, the Admiral's Cup at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., featured eighteen teams from around the country. Nine races were completed per division in highly variable conditions on Saturday, as inconsistent racing plagued Navy's first day of racing. The Mids' looked to come back strong on Sunday, but light winds only allowed for one additional race to be completed, as Navy wound up finishing tenth overall. Freshman
Nathan Smith and sophomore
Ryan Wahba came in eighth in the "A" division while the trio of freshman
Jack Welburn, senior
Colin MacGillivray and sophomore
Linnea Forsberg took tenth in the "B" division.
Up next for Navy are two more road regattas on April 29-30, as the Mids compete in the America Trophy (MAISA Coed Championship) and the Arrigan Memorial Trophy.
