Bulls return to the waters Feb. 21-22 in St. Petersburg
 
TAMPA, FLA., FEB. 16, 2026 – South Florida Head Sailing Coach Allison Jolly saw her team open the spring season in strong fashion over the weekend as the Bulls posted top finishes in the SAISA Women's Top 6 Fleet and Team Race held in Charleston, S.C.
 
In the regatta that featured the top six ranked teams in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA), the Bulls finished just behind College of Charleston in the Women's Top 6 Invite, with the Bulls posting a score of 190 and Charleston a regatta low score of 131. USF bettered Rollins College (229), Jacksonville University (292), Clemson (347) and North Carolina State (350) after the completion of nine total heats.
 
The Bulls A Division boat of Kailey Warrior and Madisen Hamai finished fifth overall and second in the division. The Bulls B Division sailors Ghislaine van Empel and Cate Brennan finished third overall and second in their division, while the C Division sailors Grace Jones and Melissa Janes finished ninth overall and third in their division.
 
In Sunday's Women's Top 6 Team Race the same six sailors combined efforts sailing against six sailors from the other competing teams. After multiple round-robin competitions, the Bulls tied the second-best record with a 5-3 mark but finished third after losing a tiebreaker. In round one, the Bulls downed Clemson, NC State, Jacksonville and Charleston and fell to Rollins. In round two of the competition, the Bulls beat Jacksonville and had losses to Charleston and Rollins.
 
The regatta serves as an early-season measuring stick and provided a strong indicator of how the Bulls' spring campaign is shaping up, ultimately building toward the SAISA Women's Team Race and Fleet Race Championships, which will be hosted by USF, April 10-12 in St. Petersburg.
 
UP NEXT
The Bulls will host the USF Women's Team Race on February 21-22 in St. Petersburg. USF then competes at the Mendelblatt Team Race (February 28-March 1) before heading into March for the Jen Harris Women's Team Race (March 7-8).
 
CHAMPIONSHIPS COMING TO ST. PETE
Championship season begins April 10-12 as South Florida will host the SAISA Women's Team Race and Fleet Race Championships in St. Petersburg. The Bulls won the SAISA conference championship last year, securing the Ann Boyd Trophy in winning the Fleet Racing Championship and finishing second in the Team Racing Championship hosted on their home waters.
 
The season culminates May 15-18 as the Bulls will also serve as the hosts for the College Sailing Women's Fleet Racing National Championships for the first time since 2013. South Florida will compete against the nation's elite for a national title at the SkyBeach Resort in St. Peterburg.
 
About USF Sailing
The USF sailing program won a SAISA conference championship in 2025 and has reached the national finals in 12 of the last 13 years. The Bulls finished in the top 10 during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. The sailing team, which has won eight SAISA conference titles, was formed in 1997 and is based out of St. Petersburg. The program has been led since 2004 by head coach Allison Jolly. One of the most successful women in U.S. national sailing history, Jolly is a former USA Olympian and Gold Medalist (1988), a 2016 Florida Sports Hall of Fame inductee, and a 2019 U.S. National Sailing Hall of Fame inductee.
 
Follow the team on Twitter and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.