ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND — The Naval Academy offshore sailing team won the 2026 Kennedy Cup on Sunday in Annapolis, the school's first national championship in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association's big-boat, or keelboat, division since 2012, according to Navy Athletics.
Navy and crews from nine other schools raced for three days on the Chesapeake Bay in shifting conditions. The event used a modified format for the first time: a Friday morning practice, then racing Friday afternoon, with four races completed that day and more Saturday.
The top four teams were separated by single points going into Sunday. Race officials moved the start earlier to try to fit in two races, but the wind began to fade during the first one. Only three boats finished inside the time limit, the wind shut off, and no second race was sailed. That one race moved the fleet again, and Navy took the day.
Senior skipper Aden Newman led the crew. Junior Lawton Harper was the helm, joined by juniors Brendan Hawko and Nolan Stanfield, seniors Frank Bradshaw, Ford Buckley, Lauren Aaby and Nico Martinez, and sophomore Sofia Parker. Navy had finished first and second at the McMillan Cup two weeks earlier.
Navy sails the Coast Guard Women's Regatta on Nov. 7-8 and the Pacific Northwest Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta on Nov. 14-15.
Source: Navy Athletics
Also: Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association
Drawn from public records; drafted with AI and edited by Peter Gorman before publication.
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