Complete Results

BOSTON, Mass. -- Closing out strong at the second ever appearance at the Women's Fleet Race National Championships, the Christopher Newport sailing team captured a pair of second place finishes in the final rotation of the regatta to cap an outstanding campaign in 2023-24. Overall, the Captains finished 15th out of 18 teams at the Eastern National Semi-Final with 385 total points. 

CNU finished in 14th place in A division and added an 11th place showing in B division after 17 races were completed in the two-day event. The Captains beat out three programs in the final standings, taking down the Unviersity of Washington (482 points), the University of Wisconsin (483 points), and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (536 points). Cross-water rival Old Dominion University edged out the Captains for 14th by just 14 points with 371 while CNU was outpaced by Coast Guard by just 15 and Jacksonville by a mere 27 points.

The final qualifying position for nationals was Roger Williams University, finishing ninth with 309 points. The Captains finished ahead of the Hawks in B division sailing but a strong A division boat helped lift the former into the two-day national championship event. The Women's Fleet Race National Championship is being hosted by MIT and Harvard on the Charles River in Boston. Stanford University (116 points) won the Eastern Semi-Final and lead a group of nine teams who advance to compete for the Gerald C. Miller Trophy, awarded to the women's dinghy national champion. 

Laura Smith and Ellie McFall paired up for the B division boat that finished with 191 total points. They tied the US Coast Guard Academy, but earned 11th place on a tiebreaker. The A division boat was sailed by Grace Watlington and Gail Schneider and the duo finished with 194 points and a 14th place effort. 

On day one, the Captains got off to a great start, holding a top-ten position through the first four races in both divisions. CNU had four top-ten efforts in eight completed races including matching sixth-place showings in race number four for both A and B division. With 75 points, CNU was in 10th place before a tough shift pushed the Captains down the leaderboard by the end of the first day of action. Smith and McFall recorded a fourth-place and another sixth-place effort on day one, but the Captains were sitting in 15th with 278 points by the end of competition. 

Needing to make a move on the second day, Watlington and Schneider pieced together an exceptional run of five races for the Captains in A division, but the weather forced the start time too late in the day for CNU to make up any ground on the final leaderboard. Watlington and Schneider finished the final five races with three top-ten efforts including a ninth-, fifth-, and second-place recorded. The final race, which started just one minute before the 5:00 p.m. cutoff on Tuesday, allowed Smith and McFall to match their A division teammates with a program-best second-place finish, sprinting across the line behind only N.C. State in the finale. 

The trip to Boston marks the second appearance by CNU Sailing in the Women's Fleet Race National Championship event after CNU captured a 14th-place showing in the 2016 edition of the postseason event. 

The Captains will eye a return to the national stage in 2025 as the Women's National Champinoship will be hosted by the University of South Florida and Eckerd College.