NEW ORLEANS – Top-ranked Harvard Sailing successfully defended its title, winning the 2026 ICSA Open Team Race National Championship on Lake Pontchartrain this afternoon. The national crown is its second in a row, third in four years and fifth in program history.
 
The Crimson becomes the first program to win back-to-back open team race national championships since College of Charleston accomplished the feat in 2017 and 2018. Harvard is also the first team to capture at least three national titles in four years since Yale won four in a row from 2013-16.
 
Harvard's day opened with a protest of its final race of Friday, which ended in a 1-2-5 triumph over Stanford. The Cardinal, however, filed a formal complaint and the Crimson withdrew, tilting its original record of 21-1 to 20-2.
 
The minor setback did not remove Harvard atop its perch in the team standings and did not put it in danger of losing the national championship. The crown was, in fact, secure before the day's action began.
 
While the balance of racing would not affect Harvard, there were other positions up for grabs in the team standings, so the Final Four went on and saw the Crimson lose its first outing of the day to Dartmouth, 2-4-5. Harvard later defeated the Cardinal, 1-2-5, before a lengthy delay due to a lack of wind went into effect.
 
When the action resumed more than an hour later, Dartmouth defeated Stanford, 1-2-5, and Harvard beat Roger Williams, 1-3-4, to put the final touches on the 154-race regatta.
 
The Crimson finished the three-day event with a 22-3 record, well ahead of runner-up Stanford and its 17-8 mark. Roger Williams, meanwhile, came in third place with a 16-9 showing and Dartmouth closed in fourth (15-10).
 
Sailing for Harvard were the pairings of Justin Callahan-Christina Chen, Mitchell Callahan-Rosella Irfan, and Robby Meek-Jacob Posner. For the Callahans, they have competed in all three of the Crimson's open team race national-title victories.
 
With the win, Harvard's open squad has posted victories in eight of nine spring weekends and the Crimson has now claimed both of the ICSA team national championships in 2025-26. In November, Harvard won the ICSA Match Race National Championship in St. Petersburg, Florida. Additionally, Meek won the ICSA Open Singlehanded National Championship, which was also in November, in Norfolk, Virginia.
 
The Harvard women's team will now vie for its first national title in program history when it opens the ICSA Women's Team Race National Championship on Sunday. The two-day regatta will take place on Lake Pontchartrain.