ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team closed out the regular season portion of its fall slate over the week, competing in two conference championship events away from home.
 
Racing for the MAISA Open Fleet Racing Fall Championship, the War Memorial Regatta was held inSt. Mary's City, Md., and featured the top 18 teams in the conference. Saturday saw gusty and shifty winds out of the north/northwest ranging from 8-18 knots, as racing was very tight with an ambitious 12 races per division being completed. Navy quickly established itself as one of the top teams and was vying for the lead throughout Saturday, but a late charge by St. Mary's College to close out the first day left the Midshipmen 20 points back in second place heading into Sunday.
 
The second day saw a northeast breeze that started out at 10-15 knots and decreased throughout the day, where Navy was very strong, averaging less than 3 points per race, and slowly chipped away at the St. Mary's lead. The event was still up for grabs going into the final race, but Navy was unable to put enough points on St Mary's to close the gap and wound up second overall by a slim three points. Juniors Nathan Smith and Ellie Alex and senior Ryan Wahba came in second in the "A" division while juniors Jack Welburn and Darby Graham and sophomore Henry Allgeier claimed the "B" division victory. 
 
With 15 teams on hand in Norfolk, Va., for the MAISA Fall Women's Fleet Race, Saturday's breeze started out as a moderate northwesterly that shifted north and built to peaks just over 20 knots before fading slightly late. Navy went up and down in the challenging conditions and stood near the middle of the pack in eighth at the end of the first day. Sunday then saw north/northeast winds from 5-15 knots, as the Mids were able to be more consistent in the conditions and had a strong day, moving up to sixth place by the close of racing. Junior Ava Farley and sophomores Josie Sherry and Fiona Cullen finished fourth in the "A" division while senior Linnea Forsberg, junior Eleanor Niehoff and sophomore Darby Dryden placed 11th in the "B" division.
 
Navy is set to return to action Nov. 9-10 at the ICSA Singlehanded Championships.