by Delaney Conlogue, ICSA Communications Committee
The 2026 Open Fleet Race National Semifinals, hosted by the University of South Florida, produced two days of high-level, high-pressure racing that set the stage for a fiercely competitive championship finals. 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 B-Division fleets finishing just one rotation.
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 that led to close action at the starts and tight maneuvering at mark roundings.
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 spots with just 13 points separating Connecticut College in ninth and the University of California Santa Barbara in twelfth going into the last set. The Connecticut College sailors prevailed–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 p.m. 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.”
“This is the only thing we’ve been thinking about and we finally did it. Every single person on our team deserves this,” said Jacksonville A-Division crew Ella Wisely.
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.”
Eastern Teams Advancing to Finals:
- Harvard University
- U.S. Naval Academy
- Tulane University
- Boston College
- Roger Williams University
- Dartmouth College
- St. Mary’s College of Maryland
- Cornell University
- Connecticut College
Western Teams Advancing to Finals:
- Brown University
- Stanford University
- Georgetown University
- Yale University
- College of Charleston
- Bowdoin College
- Fordham University
- University of Pennsylvania
- Jacksonville University
