CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The Hobart and William sailing team earned a spot in the 2024 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Open Fleet  Race National Championship, finishing eighth in one of two national semifinals on the Charles River. Competing in the Western Semifinal, HWS finished the regatta with 283 points.
 
Thirty-six qualifying teams were broken into two 18-team fleets, Eastern and Western. The top nine from each fleet advanced to the national championship which begins tomorrow, May 26, in Cambridge. The winner on Sunday will take home the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy as national champion.
 
In A Division, senior Will Murray competed as skipper with junior Frances Depke and sophomore Cooper Delbridge sailing as crew. Depke sailed in races 1-4 and 11-17. Delbridge sailed in races 5-10. They finished sixth overall with 128 points, combining for 13 top-10 finishes. Murray and Delbridge won race nine. 
 
Sophomore Juan Carlos Lacerda Jones, sophomore Rachel Duggan and first-year Robert Breslin competed in B Division. Duggan served as crew in races 1-4 and 13-17. Breslin sailed in races 5-12. They placed ninth with 155 points. The trio combined for 11 top-10 finishes. Lacerda Jones and Duggan won the final race of the semifinals.
 
Roger Williams won the Western Semifinals with 164 points. Yale, Brown, Coast Guard, Tufts, College of Charleston, St. Mary's College (Md.), and Bowdoin also advanced to the national championship.
 
HWS returns to the College Sailing Fleet Race National Championship for the 23rd time since 1996. HWS won the event in 2005 in Austin, Texas. HWS finished on the podium in 1998, 200, 2004 and 2011.