Nov. 11, 2009

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy hosted the Kennedy Cup (Intercollegiate Sailing's National Championships) this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday aboard the team's fleet of Navy 44s.

Navy was represented by Austin Van Oist and his crew which included Josh Hinshaw, Paul Mallory, Ladd Spears, Peter Gibbons-Neff, Emily Frost, Alex Delgado and Pat Tucker.

The three days featured distinctly different conditions with Friday providing a shifty northwesterly breeze, Saturday a strong and steady southerly with big waves followed by a drifter on Sunday. Van Oist and crew showed solid form by leading after Friday's racing but struggled to effectively change gears for Saturday's breeze and they could do no better in the single race of Sunday.

Navy ended up third of the nine-boat fleet behind overall winner California Maritime and the US Coast Guard Academy.

"I'm extremely proud of how our crew performed in the regatta. For sure there were some things they wish they had done different, but after all was said and done they had beaten some excellent teams including last year's winner Rhode Island," said Navy head coach Jahn Tihansky. "Overall winner Cal Maritime was the better team this weekend and Coast Guard proved again they're a force to be reckoned with."

The regatta ended Navy's fall season.

# GO NAVY #