Results: Northeast Series 1 | KP Open | KP Women's | ILCA North
STONY BROOK, NY – On a rain-soaked weekend, the Maritime College sailing team began its 2025-26 season with regattas at Merchant Marine and Stony Brook. The Privateers participated in three separate events at Merchant Marine on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12-13, with the open dinghy squad finishing sixth and the women's team placing seventh. Maritime also took part in the Northeast Series 1, hosted by Stony Brook University on Sunday, and came away with the overall title.
With torrential rain in the morning and little wind in the afternoon, the Northeast Series 1 regatta only featured the minimum three races per division (with the last getting underway just before the 3 p.m. cutoff). The Privateers dominated those six races, earning three wins, two second-place finishes and a third-place result. The "A" crew of
Jeremy Lunati (Stony Brook, NY) and
Michael Saharov (Staten Island, NY) took third and first before
Victor Schlecker (Elkton, MD) replaced Lunati for the final race and placed second with Saharov. In the "B" division, Maritime's pair of
Brian Lynch (Mattituck, NY) and
Grace Wilson (Lexington Park, MD) went 1-1-2 for their three finishes. The Privateers' final score of 10 points was 15 more than second-place Stevens.
Weather was also an issue at the KP Open Invitational, where only nine of the scheduled 14 races were completed in each division (mostly on Saturday). In the "A" boat,
Adam Starck (Lakewood, OH) and
Amelia Tebbens (Center Moriches, NY) sailed together for the first eight races and had a pair of third-place finishes to go along with two fourth-place results. Starck teamed with
Nicholas Cuhna (Red Bank, NJ) in the final race on Sunday. Maritime utilized five different pairings in the "B" boat.
Nathaniel Hartwell (Daphne, AL) was joined by
Jack Allen (Satellite Beach, FL) in the first four races, while
Luke Barker (Rocky River, OH) and Cunha handled Races 5-8. In Race 9, the tandem was Barker and
Andrew McCarthy (Hamden, CT). The best finish for the "B" crew was Barker and Cunha's ninth-place showing in Race 5. Overall, the Privateers ended up with 200 points in the regatta.
In the KP Women's Invitational, Maritime's "B" crew of
Nicole Ostapowicz (Amityville, NY) and
Madeline Ammatuna (Coventry, RI) placed higher in the final standings than the "A" team of
Nikita Troast (Brooklyn, NY) and
Juliana Sarich (New York, NY). Ostapowicz and Ammatuna had a best finish of fifth place in Race 5 and collected 96 points across the nine-race series. Troast and Sarich were sixth in Race 3 and tallied 103 points. The Privateers recorded a total score of 199 points, which was good for seventh place in the team standings.
RJ Calanese (Huntington, NY), meanwhile, received a berth to participate in the ILCA North qualifier, which was also held at Merchant Marine. Competing for a chance to sail the Laser at the single-handed National Championships in a few weeks, he ranked 17
th overall and did not advance. Calanese completed the eight races with 122 total points.
Special thanks to those alumni and volunteers who assisted with the team this weekend. Katie Donahue traveled with the contingent that went to Stony Brook, while Clara Guarascio and Rebecca Runyan helped out Head Coach
Tara Foster with the three simultaneous events at Merchant Marine.
Next weekend, Maritime will also split the team across three different competitions. Both the dinghy and women's squads will head to Cornell for the Jack Boehringer Memorial Regatta (open) and Susan Rogers Invitational (women). The Privateers will also send a team to the Coho Memorial Open, hosted by the Webb Institute, on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 19-20.
