ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy intercollegiate sailing team kicked off the 2025-2026 campaign over the weekend with three events, highlighted by a first-place finish at the Riley Cup as well strong performances in a pair of home regattas.
The first single-handed event of the year was the ILCA Laser South in Annapolis, where 15 sailors vied for 10 berths at the upcoming conference championship. Six races were sailed on the first day in 10-15 knots of southerly breeze, while one more race was completed on Sunday before the wind died and the event ended early. The Midshipmen had five sailors in the field and all sailed well enough to advance to the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Singlehanded Championship later in the month.
Teddy Martin wound up fourth overall, winning a tiebreaker over fifth-place
Robbie Richards, while
Spencer Dominguez was just behind them in sixth,
Umi Noritake finished eighth and
Sean Trudell snagged the last qualifying spot in 10th.
Seven teams also competed in the Navy Women's Fall Regatta, as the fleet sailed FJs on Saturday and 420s on Sunday in one combined division. Navy finished third overall with
Ava Farley and
Sarah McNelly taking third in the combined division while
Margo Cicero,
Jessica Green,
Eleanor Niehoff and
Melania Gonzalez placed 10th.
Traveling down to Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va., Navy had two teams competing in the 16-team Riley Cup, as quality conditions allowed for 13 races to be completed per division with tight racing throughout the fleet. An all-freshman Navy team finished third overall, with
Leo Robillard and
Ethan Martin finishing fourth in the "A" division and
Liam Christopher and
Haley Kloepfer placing third in the "B" division. Navy's other squad won the first race and held the lead all the way through to claim victory, as
Kyle Reinecke and
Ana Lynch Smith finished first in the "A" division while
Owen MacWilliams and
Molly Jethwa also took first in the "B" division.
Navy continues the fall slate on Sept. 13-14 with a trio of home regattas: the Chesapeake Invitational, the Chesapeake Open and the Faye Bennet MAISA Women's Singlehanded Championship.
