ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy offshore sailing team finished off a strong weekend with Poseidon taking first place in the Salty 100 in Buzzards Bay, Mass., as senior Nico Martinez also led his crew to a runner-up finish in the companion Tower Race.
 
Hosted by Beverly Yacht Club and the Storm Trysail Club, the 58th Parker Converse Tower Race and Salty 100 were designed as two races in one as competitors were able to choose which direction to sail each lap of the two-lap course.  The first 48-mile lap was fast, with Martinez skippering his crew onboard Poseidon to second out of 11 boats in the Tower Race. 
 
On the second lap to complete the Salty 100, Poseidon rode an intense weather cell down Buzzards Bay, through the Elizabeth Islands archipelago and into Vineyard Sound before heading out to the Buzzards Bay Tower. The Midshipmen chose to sail the second lap clockwise to get through Quicks Hole before the current turned adverse, and, despite the wind going light for the remainder of the night, they were able to race back up the Bay to the finish line in favorable current. Navy's strategy paid off as its competitors chose to sail the course counter-clockwise, eventually finding no wind and a 2-knot current against them, enabling Poseidon to make significant gains and take a convincing win.
 
Racing with Martinez were senior Dylan Pace, juniors Dathyn Paxton, Zev Benjamin, and Arik Quackenbush, as well as sophomores Henry Bushey, Ella Sipe, Octavian Ashford and Sofia Parker.
 
The crew of Poseidon continues their summer racing season next in New York Yacht Club's Race Week at Newport in Newport, R.I.