ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team opened its stay at the ICSA Fleet Racing Championships this week in Boston, Mass., using a strong finish in the women's semifinal regatta to advance to the finals of the Women's Fleet Race National Finals.
 
With the top 36 teams in the country split into two 18-team semifinal events and the top half in each regatta set to move on to the finals, Navy was seeded into the eastern semifinal and sailed at Harvard the first day before sailing at MIT on day two. Racing on the Charles River was extremely efficient as Monday a gorgeous day of sailing with winds out of the east at 5-10 knots and steady for the downtown location, with the Midshipmen able to find some consistency and score some solid finishes. With the great sailing, competitors stayed out and completed 12 races per division before the day was through, as Navy's run of top half scores found the team in fourth going into the second day and comfortably in the top half of the semifinal.
 
Tuesday was sunny and warm but with little to no wind on the river, so the teams were ashore to start the day. Racing eventually began in a light and shifty southwest wind that built through the day, proving to be much puffier and shiftier as it took the Mids a few races to get comfortable. After that, Navy got back to rattling off top finishes and closed the event strong in fourth and easily advancing to the national finals. Junior Evie Blauvelt and sophomore Darby Graham finished third in the "A" division while junior Linnea Forsberg and sophomores Ava Farley and Ella Niehofff took eighth in the "B" division.
 
Navy will compete in the women's fleet race national finals on Wednesday and Thursday before beginning the ICSA Open Fleet Race Semifinals on Friday.