The Georgetown sailing team found great success last weekend at the Maisa Match Race Championships, hosted by Navy in Kings Point, New York. The Hoyas finished first in the regatta with an impressive 6-1 record. They were trailed closely by both Fordham University in second and Hobart and William Smith Colleges in third, with identical records of 5-2. Fordham got the edge due to its victory in head-to-head races.

The first day of racing was Saturday, Sept. 28, during which a full 28-race round robin was completed among the eight teams amid 10- to 15-knot southerly winds. Georgetown finished Saturday as the top-ranked team moving into the semifinals, which took place the following day.

The semifinals were made up of the top four teams and saw 6- to 12-knot north to northeasterly winds under sunny skies. Georgetown was ranked first entering the semi-finals, followed by Fordham, then Hobart and William Smith in third and Kings Point in fourth place. As the highest seed, Georgetown was in the position to pick its first matchup and unsurprisingly chose Kings Point. 

Georgetown cleanly won in the first-to-two-points series 2-0 over Kings Point. Fordham, ranked second, also won its series against No. 3 Hobart and William Smith 2-0. This win led to Georgetown facing Fordham in the finals, which Georgetown won in another 2-0 victory. This impressive performance qualified both Georgetown and Fordham for the ICSA Match Race Nationals at Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, Mass. 

Throughout the weekend, Georgetown was led by senior skipper Sean Segerblom and crewed by sophomores Annabelle Ayer and Jack Reiter. The crew was rounded out by freshman Scott Mais, finding strong success against legitimate competition in his third-ever collegiate regatta. 

The same weekend, the Women’s Showcase Qualifier B hosted by Brown in Providence, R.I., also transpired but with less success. The Hoyas finished eighth out of 15 with a point total of 234. While eighth place may not bring bragging rights, it does qualify Georgetown for the Women’s Showcase Final hosted by Navy in Annapolis, Md., on the weekend of Oct. 12. 

Saturday, the first day of races in Providence, brought more fickle conditions than Georgetown’s coed team faced in Kings Point. Winds ranged from 10 to 18 knots and generally blew southwest but with some southeastern puffs making for a more technical and unstable race. Sunday, however, brought totally diverse conditions. The winds blew north to northeast at a gusty 15 knots in the morning and then died down to a slow 5 to 6 knots in the afternoon.

In addition to the ICSA Match Race Nationals in early November which the coed team qualified for last weekend, it has the Coed Showcase this weekend in Annapolis. The women’s team also has a full weekend with the Tom Curtis Memorial Regatta hosted at home on the Potomac.