NEW ORLEANS – Top-ranked Harvard Sailing extended its lead at the 2026 ICSA Open Team Race National Championship by going 10-1 on Friday, improving its overall record to 21-1 after two days of action on Lake Pontchartrain. Roger Williams (16-6), Stanford (15-7), Dartmouth (12-10) and Brown (12-10) round out the top five.
 
The Crimson entered Friday's racing looking to close out the first round with an unblemished record after winning its first 11 outings on Thursday. Its plan went sideways out of the gate as Harvard fell to then-second-place Stanford, 2-4-6. The top-ranked team in the country, however, responded with a 2-3-4 decision vs. Tulane, a 1-2-5 performance vs. Penn and a 1-2-3 effort vs. Navy, to end first-round action with a regatta-best 14-1 record.
 
The day continued with the Crimson moving on to the Round of 8, and its first matchup was against fellow NEISA foe, Dartmouth. Harvard experienced little trouble vs. the Big Green, going 1-3-4, which propelled it to another victory -- by the same margin -- vs. Tulane. The Crimson then dismissed Brown (1-2-5), Georgetown (1-2-3) and Roger Williams (1-2-4). With just two races left in the round and the sun setting quickly, Harvard took down Navy (1-2-5) and Stanford (1-2-5) to punctuate its day.
 
Sailing for Harvard were Justin Callahan-Christina Chen in the Crimson's top boat, Mitchell Callahan-Rosella Irfan in its B-entry, and Robby Meek-Jacob Posner in the team's third and final vessel.  
 
Final-day action on Saturday is set to stream live on the ICSA YouTube page, beginning at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT.
 
The Crimson is in search of its second straight ICSA Open Team Race National Championship and third in four seasons.