The St. Mary’s College of Maryland coed sailing team has clinched the America Trophy on Sunday, April 30, to become the 2023 Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (MAISA) Spring Open Fleet Race Conference Champions. Old Dominion University hosted the America Trophy from April 29-30.
St. Mary’s College won over the 18-team field, giving the team the MAISA’s automatic qualifying (AQ) berth in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Open Fleet Race National Championship hosted by the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on May 30-June 2.
This is the second conference championship title for the Seahawks in the 2022-23 season as the team also won the 2022 MAISA Fall Open Fleet Race Conference Championship title by winning the War Memorial on Oct. 29-30.
The Seahawks secured a 16-point lead over SUNY Maritime College, tallying 115 points to bring home the trophy. Maritime earned the conference’s second AQ berth with its second-place finish, while the U.S. Naval Academy (Navy) placed third with 144 points.
The two-day event saw seven A and B races completed by Saturday’s sunset, while five races in each division were completed on Sunday in an 8-12 knot breeze from the southeast before the weather forced the fleet from the water, and the racing was suspended.
Seniors Leo Boucher (West River, Md./South River) and Ellie Sekowski (Warwick, Md./Tome) claimed Division A with 55 points, 10 points ahead of the University of Pennsylvania. The duo won Races 1A-2A, 6A, and 8A while taking second in Race 4A and third in Race 9A.
In Division B, sophomore skipper Owen Hennessey (Washington, D.C./Severn) and senior captain Sam Muir (Goleta, Calif./Dos Pueblos) finished in second place following head-to-head tiebreakers with Navy and George Washington University as the three schools all tallied 60 points. The tandem won Races 5B, 9B, and 12B while coming in second in Race 8B and placing third in Races 3B and 4B.
The Seahawks will move on to the following competitions:
- May 23-26 – ICSA Women’s Fleet Race Nationals (must qualify – selections announced on May 2) – Kings Point, N.Y. (USMMA)
- May 27-29 – ICSA Open Team Race Nationals (No. 6 seed) – Kings Point, N.Y. (USMMA)
- May 30-June 2 – ICSA Open Fleet Race Nationals – Kings Point, N.Y. (USMMA)
Congratulations to St. Mary’s College of Maryland for winning the 2023 MAISA Spring Open Fleet Race Conference Championship and good luck to the team in their upcoming competitions.