ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy offshore sailing team had six crews in action this weekend, competing in Annapolis Yacht Club's Fall Race to Oxford on Saturday and then again in the return Hammond Memorial Race on Sunday hosted by the Tred Avon Yacht Club.

The Midshipmen got their first real test of the season in the Race to Oxford and the Hammond Race, coming off a 12th-place finish at the J/105 Women's Regatta two weeks prior and an eighth-place closing in the Eastport Yacht Club's Labor Day Invitational.
 
The Fall Race to Oxford is a 30-mile point-to-point race from Annapolis to Oxford, Md., and the 71st edition was extremely competitive among the top teams. A moderate south-easterly breeze made for a fast-reaching start and a quick leg south to the Choptank River, followed by a technically and navigationally challenging beat to the Tred Avon River, while the final, broad reach leg provided for an exciting finish under spinnaker just yards off the Tred Avon Yacht Club.
 
Navy's five teams in the PHRF A class finished second through sixth, with junior skipper Brendan Hawko and his team aboard GALLANT just missing the top spot by a mere 32 seconds after four hours of racing. Senior captain Aden Newman and his crew aboard TENACIOUS rounded out the podium, battling GALLANT through the final leg up the Tred Avon River to claim a third-place finish and coming in just 15 seconds behind GALLANT.
 
On Sunday, the Hammond Memorial Race took teams the opposite direction, finishing at the mouth of the Choptank River in a dying westerly breeze. Junior skipper Lawton Harper and his team aboard DEFIANCE had an outstanding day, taking the overall win with TENACIOUS and GALLANT close behind. After what could have been a costly tactical error at the start, Harper and team patiently and methodically came back from a nearly 10-minute deficit to claim the victory.
 
The Mids return to action this weekend at the Shields Trophy Regatta and the Hospice Cup, both hosted in Annapolis.