College season finale at St. Mary’s

The stage is set for the final two national championships of the 2024-25 College season: Women’s and Open Fleet Race on May 20-23 and May 27-30 in St. Mary’s City, MD. Hosted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 36 teams from across the USA will descend on the St. Mary’s River to setting the titles in Zim 420Es and FJs.

Stanford University comes into the Women’s Fleet Race National Championship ranked #1 after winning their conference championship by 18 points. The Cardinal have already proven their championship prowess in 2025, winning the Women’s Team Race Nationals at Brown last month.

They also come in as the two-time reigning Women’s Fleet Race National Champions – and with some of the same sailors making up their 2025 roster, they’re in the hunt for a three-peat. Only three teams in the history of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association have completed a women’s nationals hat trick.

The Yale University Bulldogs arrive at St. Mary’s ranked second overall, winning their conference championship and the Yale Women’s Interconference (fleet race) while finishing second, behind Stanford, at the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship (ACC) this past fall. The Bulldogs were fourth at the 2024 Women’s Fleet Race National Championship.

Filling out the top three teams is Brown University, who earned their berth by placing second at their conference championship. The team were third at the Women’s ACCs and besting the Bulldogs at the New England Fall Women’s Championship. While Stanford is looking like the dominant team, the Bears are in the mix and looking to win their first Women’s Fleet Race title since 2019.

Details: https://nationals.collegesailing.org/events/2025-womens-fleet-racing

Coming into the 2025 Open Fleet Race Championship, defending champs Harvard University are the favorites, ranked #1 after winning their conference championship and 2025 Open Team Race National Championship last month. While they are ranked on top, their success isn’t a given. Harvard took second to Roger Williams University at the New England Fall Championship and fourth at the Open Atlantic Coast Championships, which serves as the fall season’s national competition.

Right on their heels and ranked #2 is Yale University. They had a very successful team racing season, placing second at both the Open and Women’s Team Race Championship, but missed out on the automatic qualification spot at their conference championship, placing fifth. The Bulldogs are eager to break the pattern, as they’ve finished second at the past four Open Fleet Race Championships (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 – excluding 2021, where many New England teams were not able to compete because of COVID restrictions).

Stanford University rounds out the top three after winning their conference championship. The team had a successful fleet race season, ending 2024 with a win at the Open Atlantic Coast Championship against many of the same teams vying for this spring Fleet Race Nationals title. They come back to the championship hungry, having been knocked off the podium in 2024, finishing 7th overall.

Details: https://nationals.collegesailing.org/events/2025-open-fleet-racing

2024-25 Season

Fall National Championships:
November 9-10: Women’s and Open Singlehanded Nationals – St Petersburg, FL
November 15-17: Match Race Nationals – Oyster Bay, NY

Spring National Championships:
April 24-26: Open Team Race Nationals – Cranston, RI
April 27-28: Women’s Team Race Nationals – Cranston, RI
May 20-23: Women’s Dinghy Nationals – St Marys City, MD
May 27-30: Open Dinghy Nationals – St Marys City, MD

Source: ICSA