Stanford wins College Open Nationals

The Stanford University Cardinal won the 2025 College Open Fleet Race Championship, held May 27-30 in St. Mary’s City, MD. After the semi-finals on May 27-28 advanced the top 18 schools, the Cardinal captured their third national title of the 2024-25 season in a winner-take-all finale.

After light winds prevented racing on the first day of the finals, the regatta organizers moved the start up by an hour on the final day. Their efforts – which included shifting the race location from Horseshoe Point to Church Point then back again a couple times – paid off and each division was able to complete seven races.

Racing Club Flying Juniors and 420s, it came down to the last set with five teams – Stanford, Navy, Dartmouth, Yale, and Harvard – all in contention for a podium position.

With a win in race 6A, Nathan Smith (‘26) and Ellie Alex (‘26) from the U.S. Naval Academy came within one point of Stanford University with about an hour of racing before the 5:00 pm cutoff. Under fire, Stanford’s A Division sailors Thomas Sitzman (‘27) and Ellie Harned (‘26) shot out a bullet in their final race.

After a penalty turn by Navy’s A Division in their final race caused the Midshipmen to fall back in the overall standings, Stanford’s B Division sailors Vanessa Lahrkamp (‘26) and Alice Schmid (‘27) clinched the national title for their team with a one-two punch in the final set. After an attempt at an eighth race in each division had to be called off, the podium was set – Stanford University in first, U.S. Naval Academy in second, and Dartmouth College in third.

Stanford celebrated another national title, but theirs wasn’t the only program highlight. Navy returned with their best finish since winning the event at Kings Point in 2021, and Dartmouth repeated their podium performance from last year at MIT.

En route to victory, Stanford won both A Division and B Division, a feat that hadn’t been seen since MIT won both in 2018. In the 89 times that an open fleet race national championship has been held, the same team has won both divisions only 15 times.

“I don’t think there’s anything secret about this week,” said Stanford’s Sitzmann. “It’s just the process the entire year and everyone on the team.”

For Lahrkamp, who was named 2025-24 Women’s Sailor of the Year, this win marks her third contribution to a championship this season after winning the women’s fleet and team race titles. This is also her second Open Fleet Race championship win – the first back in 2023 with a nearly all woman team.

“I’m ecstatic, I love winning and I especially love winning with this team,” said Lahrkamp. “We work really hard so I think it’s well deserved and I hope we keep winning.”

A Division Winners: Thomas Sitzman (‘27) and Ellie Harned (‘26)

B Division Winners: Vanessa Lahrkamp (‘26, right) and Alice Schmid (‘27)

MORE:
• Stanford won the Fowle Trophy which is given to the best sailing program in the country based on finishes at national championships during the school year.
• Harvard’s Justin Callahan (’26) was selected as Sailor of the Year.
• Stanford’s Alice Schmid (’27) was selected as Crew of the Year.

Details: https://nationals.collegesailing.org/events/2025-open-fleet-racing

Results:
• Finals: https://scores.collegesailing.org/s25/open-fleet-race-national-championships/
• Eastern Semis: https://scores.collegesailing.org/s25/open-east-semi-finals/
• Western Semis: https://scores.collegesailing.org/s25/open-west-semi-finals/

2024-25 Season

Fall National Championships:
November 9-10: Women’s and Open Singlehanded Nationals – St Petersburg, FL
November 15-17: Match Race Nationals – Oyster Bay, NY

Spring National Championships:
April 24-26: Open Team Race Nationals – Cranston, RI
April 27-28: Women’s Team Race Nationals – Cranston, RI
May 20-23: Women’s Dinghy Nationals – St Marys City, MD
May 27-30: Open Dinghy Nationals – St Marys City, MD

Source: Delaney Brown, ICSA