ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy offshore sailing team dominated its way to its second-straight McMillan Cup victory this past weekend in Annapolis, also adding a 14th-place finish at the J/105 Chesapeake Bay Championship on Saturday and Sunday.
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Serving as the big-boat college sailing championship for the New England and Mid-Atlantic districts, the McMillan Cup featured nine schools from the eastern seaboard in brisk fall conditions on the Chesapeake Bay. Placing first in five of the seven races held, Navy overcame a crowded starting line in the opening two races to finish fifth and third. The Midshipmen then persevered to claim the lead in the third race on Saturday and held onto first through the challenging, windy conditions of Sunday to win the regatta with a total of 13 points. Beating runner-up Merchant Marine (24 points) and third-place Maine Maritime (29 points), the Navy's boat consisted of senior skipper
Colin Caraher alongside a crew of seniors
Andrew Alvey,
Sawyer Barnard,
Chloe Cowan and
Eddie Konjoyan, juniors
Lauren Aaby and
Mike Fernandez and sophomore
William Greene.
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The back-to-back McMillan Cup wins marks the first repeat titles for Navy since claiming collegiate sailing's oldest trophy in four-straight years from 2014 to 2017.
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Additionally, the Mids took 15th in the 20-boat field at the J/105 Chesapeake Bay Championship, hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club, skippered by senior
Nancy Rhodes with a crew of seniors
Josh Fisher,
Connor McKee and Sammy Mentel and juniors
Logan Hayes and
Nico Martinez.
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Navy continues the fall with two more regattas in Annapolis this weekend, competing in the Colgate Small Keelboat Invitational and the Eastport Yacht Club J/105 Invitational.
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