CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Sailing enters the 2025 ICSA Open Fleet Race National Championship as the defending champion and top seed, it was announced tonight. The Crimson, meanwhile, received an at-large berth to the Women's Fleet Race National Championship, earning the field's No. 5 seed.
 
Both events will take place in St. Mary's City, Maryland, with St. Mary's College of Maryland serving as the hosts. The women's championship is scheduled for May 20-23, with the open regatta to follow May 27-30.
 
Harvard won the 2024 open fleet racing championship on the Charles River and secured NEISA's automatic bid to this year's regatta after winning the NEISA Open Fleet Racing Championship, April 19-20. The Crimson finished first of 17 teams after posting a score of 103 in Cranston, Rhode Island. Competing that weekend in The Ocean State were skippers Justin Callahan and Mitchell Callahan, and crew Christina Chen, Aidan Pesce, Xavier Ayala-Vermont and Rosella Irfan.
 
On the women's side, Harvard received an at-large invitation following its third-place performance at the NEISA Women's Fleet Racing Championship in New Haven, Connecticut. That regatta was limited to just one day and three races due to a lack of wind on Day 1, and too much wind on Day 2. Cordelia Burn and Margo Silliman sailed in the A-Division, while Zoey Ziskind and Peyton Hadfield competed in the B-Division. Overall, the quartet registered a 35, sitting behind Yale (13) and Brown (28). Last season, the Crimson finished in seventh place at nationals.
 
The Harvard coed team will be in search of its seventh fleet race national title, while the women will look to capture its sixth, but first since 2005.
 
The Crimson is coming off a successful weekend on the water, winning the ICSA Open Team Race National Championship and finishing in third place at the ICSA Women's Team Race National Championship in Cranston. Harvard's third-place showing at the women's regatta was the best in program history.