NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

The Coast Guard Academy sailing team returns to Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) action this weekend, splitting up between five highly competitive regattas!

A septet of returning seniors were chosen as captains for this upcoming year: Connor Boudreau (Suffield, Conn.), Julia Conneely (Tampa, Fla.), Catherine Hegner (San Antonio, Tex.), Allie Nystrom (Centerville, Mass.), Charlie Pohl (Euclid, Ohio), Alexis Taylor (Mason, Mich.), and Bradley Whiteway (Potomac, Md.).

OFFSHORE

Boudreau, Taylor, and Hegner return to the Offshore side of the team alongside a large group of returning athletes who participated in the program's Ocean Race Training Program this past summer. Fellow seniors Eve Lanzafame (Hadley, Mass.) and Charlotte Waring (Metuchen, N.J.), junior Ned Jobson (Madison, Conn.), and sophomore Sarah Evans (Stowe, Vt.) also took part in the program. Juniors Ben de Ondarza (West Chazy, N.Y.) and Keith Teague (Dripping Springs, Tex.) look to be contributors on the big boats, as well.

CGA's sailing team is one of the only programs in the United States that utilizes a fleet of J70 boats, which will be prevalent in a pair of regattas for the entire team this season. The Bears will host the Admiral Pine Trophy this upcoming weekend, a highly competitive event that features J70 racing. CGA will also use the J70s while hosting the NEISA Match Race Championship for the Larry White Trophy on the weekend of September 20th; the ICSA Match Race Championship will take place at St. Petersburg Yacht Club in Florida during the weekend of November 15th. All three events are a combined effort of both the offshore and dinghy portions of the team.

Offshore fans should also mark on their calendars a trio of regattas hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy. The Shields Trophy, featuring the top big boat teams from the East Coast, will be held the weekend of September 13th; the McMillan Cup, held the weekend of October 18th, acts as the qualifier for the Kennedy Cup, which is commonly regarded as the big boat national championship. The Kennedy will take place the weekend of November 1st, and teams can earn automatic berths to the contest by placing first overall or first in the conference at the McMillan.

DINGHY

Conneely (skipper) and Nystrom (crew) will look to lead the women's dinghy team back to the national stage after finishing in 11th place at last season's Western Semifinal. Returning from last season's semifinal team are a trio of skippers in junior Caroline Odell (Burke, Va.) and sophomores Meara Conley (Hingham, Mass.) and Ella Demand (Toms River, N.J.), all three of whom made their debuts on the national stage last season. Senior crew Sarah Krajewski (Lewes, Del.) will also contribute to the high level of talent returning from last year's team.

On the open division side, Pohl (crew) and Whiteway (skipper) will also look to lead the team back to the national stage after finishing 12th in last year's semifinal. Pohl earned his second First Team All-NEISA Open Crew selection last season and competed in A-Division of last season's semifinal, while Whiteway and Krajewski were both reserves at the qualifier. Senior skipper Luke Zylinski (Lavalette, N.J.) and junior crews Grace Austin (Moorpark, Calif.) and Gavin VanManen (Grand Rapids, Mich.) will also be regular competitors on the open squad this season.

CGA will once again host the Danmark Trophy, taking place the weekend of September 27th this season. The regatta is regarded as one of the fall season's most prestigious intercollegiate non-tournament events. Both dinghy teams will compete in their respective Atlantic Coast Championship Tournaments, which many followers of the sport view as a Nationals preview in the fall. 36 of the country's top teams will compete in Rounds 1A and 1B, with the top nine from each moving on to the finals.

Coast Guard will host Round 1B of the open bracket on the weekend of October 4th, while Navy is hosting the first women's round during the weekend of September 27th. The women's final will be jointly hosted by Harvard and MIT on the weekend of October 11th, while the open final will be hosted by Navy and St. Mary's College of Maryland on the weekend of October 18th.