ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Highlighted by a win at the Oyster Bowl and a runner-up finish at the Intrepid Trophy, the Navy intercollegiate sailing team had another busy weekend by hosting the first round of the Open Atlantic Coast Championship in Annapolis, competing in two events at the Oyster Bowl in Washington, D.C., and sending Midshipmen to the Stu Nelson Women's Regatta in New London, Conn., and the MAISA Match Race Championship's Intrepid Trophy in Kings Point, N.Y.
 
At home, the Atlantic Coast Championship Series continued with the opening rounds of open competition. Navy hosted 18 teams from around the country, with the top nine teams from the event advancing to the championship finals. Saturday saw very little wind early on and no racing occurred until 3:30 PM when a light wind finally filled in, as six races per division were able to be completed. Sunday then had pouring rain all day with a shifty and dying wind, as four more races per division were held to bring the weekend total to 10.
 
The variable conditions made consistency hard to come by for all teams and the Mids were not immune, posting some deep scores to go along with great races. In the end, Navy wound up fifth overall and comfortably advanced to the ACC finals on Oct 24-25 in Providence, R.I., as seniors Henry Allgeier and Fiona Cullen finished ninth in the "A" division while juniors Owen MacWilliams, Kyle Reinecke and Sarah McNelly placed second in division "B".
 
Light winds also limited races at the Stu Nelson Women's Regatta in New London, with the event featuring a deep field and an unusual three-division format to go along with the tricky conditions. Navy finished 12th overall in the 16-team event after only four races were completed per division. Freshman Madeleine Garrett and senior Mary Dwyer finished 14th in the "A" division while senior Josie Sherry and junior Melania Gonzalez came in fourth in "B" division and rookies Danielle Lynch-Smith and Ella Seymour came in 12th in the "C" division.
 
The Oyster Bowl was two regattas in one with open and women's fleets sailing on the same course hosted by Georgetown. The five-team women's regatta was completed in one day with 10 competitive races, with Navy winding up in second place. Freshman Kaya Hancock and senior Eva Ottenbreit finished third in the combined division while sophomores Jessica Green and Haley Kloepfer came in sixth. 
 
The Oyster Bowl's open regatta needed four more races in the rain on Sunday to complete the format, but the weather couldn't slow the Mids down, who led wire to wire to claim the victory in the seven-team event. Freshmen Cole Fanchi and Scarlet Hanson finished first in the combined division while junior Umi Noritake and sophomore Ethan Martin were second. 
 
After racing concluded on Sunday, part of the team headed up to Merchant Marine Academy to compete in the MAISA Match Race Championship for the Intrepid Trophy. Postponed from September 26-27 due to weather, the event started out a bit chilly with a north wind at 8-12 knots on Columbus Day, but got warmer throughout the day. The wind faded a bit, but stuck around enough to complete the regatta format of a round-robin followed by knockouts. 
 
Navy came out of the round-robin as the second seed and faced St. Mary's in the semi-finals, as the Mids quickly dispatched the Seahawks, 2-0, in the semis to set up a match with Georgetown in the finals. Unfortunately, Navy was over early in the first two starts of the finals and trailed around the course after being forced to restart. Navy's team of MacWilliams, Reinecke, Hancock, senior George Carty and sophomore Noelle Sizemore wound up second overall out of five teams.
 
Navy returns to action on Saturday and Sunday with the Nevins Trophy, the Washington College Fall Fleet Race, the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship Finals and the Women's Atlantic Coast Tournament.