The Hobart and William Smith sailing team concluded its 2025-26 season at the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Open Fleet Race Eastern Semifinals in St. Petersburg, Florida, this afternoon. HWS finished 13th overall.
 
Thirty-six teams began competition on Tuesday in two 18-team semifinals. The top nine in each semifinal advanced to the championship regatta, which starts tomorrow.
 
ABOUT THE REGATTA

• Racers arrived to hot and humid weather on Tuesday. Winds started at 10-11 knots from the east-southeast. The breeze remained consistent until midday when sailors were sent ashore to wait for a sea breeze.
• Thunderstorms wiped out the afternoon racing, limiting teams to four A Division and two B Division races.
• Today's racing was contested in tricky conditions. An additional three sets were sailed in A Division and five in B Division.

 
HOW HWS FARED

• HWS finished the semifinals with 150 points.
• Senior Juan Carlos LaCerda Jones and first-year Jamie McGuffe sailed in A Division. They were 13th with 73 points.  LaCerda Jones and McGuffe were third in the fourth and fifth races and had an eighth-place finish.
• Juniors JJ Klempen and Stella Kim competed in B Division. They were 14th with 77 points. Klempen and Kim were eighth in the second race and ninth in the fourth race.
• Harvard won the eastern semifinal with 52 points.

 
HWS qualified for three of the four spring national championships. HWS was 15th at the Open Team Race National Championship and   William Smith was 13th in the Women's Eastern Semifinals.