Top 18 set for College Open Nationals

The first stage of the 2026 College Open Fleet Race National Championship had 36 team compete on May 19-20 in St. Petersburg, FL. Divided into semifinal groups, the top nine in each division now advance to the finals on May 21-22 at the University of South Florida.

While Harvard University and Brown University won their respective semifinal fleets by comfortable margins, the regatta was defined by tight racing and a dramatic fight for the final qualifying positions.

Day one featured hot, humid conditions with a strong early southeasterly breeze at 10-11 knots that gradually faded to below the four-knot minimum by the afternoon. After an extended postponement waiting for the seabreeze, afternoon thunderstorms ultimately overtook the venue ending racing for the day with both A-Division completing four races but B-Division had only two scores.

Trying to capitalize on the strong predicted morning breeze, race officials moved the day two start time up an hour, sending competitors out for five races in a moderate easterly before heading ashore for another afternoon postponement. Competitors launched again a few hours later in a shifty westerly.

In the Eastern Semifinal, Harvard University led the way with a commanding win in both divisions and a 24-point gap overall to the Naval Academy in second. But behind the leaders was a close fight for the final qualifying spot with Connecticut College prevailing, pulling off single-digit finishes and punching their ticket to the finals for the first time since 2022.

“We’ve had a big year–lots of ups and downs,” said Connecticut College’s A-Division crew Vivian Smith. “[We’re] on the come up, as some would say. It’s been a year of growth–new coaches, a little bit of change on our team in the way we’re sailing and it’s paying off. We’re missing Jeff, [Breshnahan, CC Head Coach] wish he was here, but happy to be in the Florida sun.”

The Western Semifinal mirrored that depth, with Brown University setting the standard at the top of the leaderboard through consistently low scores in both the A and B divisions. Just behind, Stanford University and Georgetown University battled closely, while a tightly clustered group kept pressure on through the final set–one race per division as racing pushed up against the 5:00 pm cutoff.

What looked like a showdown between Tufts University and the University of Rhode Island for the final spot wound up being a surprise victory for Jacksonville University who posted a second and fifth in the final set to jump two places and advance to finals from semis for the first time since 2019.

“These seniors have sailed in every semi-final during their four years, last year missing out by one point,” said Jacksonville Head Coach John Faudree, “hence the emotion on their sleeves.”

Jacksonville A-Division crew Ella Wisely added, “This is the only thing we’ve been thinking about and we finally did it. Every single person on our team deserves this.”

As the scores reset tomorrow, Jacksonville’s senior skipper Owen Bannasch says the team’s goal is to just keep their heads in the game. “We’re going to have even more and better competition”, said Bannasch, “what we’ve been looking for all this time.”

Event details – Eastern semifinal results – Western semifinal results

Finals results: https://scores.collegesailing.org/s26/open-fleet-race-national-championships/

2025-26 Season

2025 Fall National Championships:
November 8-9 – Women’s and Open Singlehanded Nationals – Old Dominion Univ / Norfolk, VA
November 15-16 – Match Race Nationals – St Petersburg Yacht Club / St Petersburg, FL

2026 Spring National Championships:
April 23-25 – Open Team Race Nationals – Tulane Univ / New Orleans, LA
April 26-27 – Women’s Team Race Nationals – Tulane Univ / New Orleans, LA
May 15-18 – Women’s Dinghy Nationals – Univ of South Florida / St. Petersburg, FL
May 19-22 – Open Dinghy Nationals – Univ of South Florida / St. Petersburg, FL