36 Teams from around the nation converge in waters near Skyway Bridge
 
TAMPA, FLA., MAY 11, 2026 – Head coach Allison Jolly's USF sailing team will be represented by two boats as the Bulls host the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America (ICSA) Women's Fleet Racing National Championship at SkyBeach Resort in St. Petersburg, May 15-18.
 
The championship will feature 36 teams with 12 automatic qualifiers from six conferences and 24 at-large selections. The women's semifinals will be held Friday-Saturday, May 15-16, with the finals following Sunday-Monday, May 17-18. All events are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. starts assuming favorable win conditions.
 
"This is a tremendous opportunity to showcase the best collegiate sailors in the nation competing in the shadow of the Skyway Bridge on beautiful Tampa Bay," Jolly said. "SkyBeach Resort will provide an excellent viewing point to watch the action and we encourage fans to come out, support the Bulls and see some superb collegiate sailing. Our team is prepared and excited to compete for a national championship on our home waters."
 
Racing will take place on Tampa Bay, southeast of SkyBeach Resort in the vicinity of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The Public will have access to the resort for race viewing from the beach, two pools and a two-story bar. The awards ceremony will be held at SkyBeach Resort on Monday evening.
 
Stanford University, the defending champion, enters as the No. 1 seed followed by Yale, Brown, Harvard and Dartmouth in the top five seeds.
 
South Florida, which finished 17^th in last year's championship, earned an automatic bid after finishing second in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA) Championships, also held in St. Petersburg in April.
 
For the Fleet Race National Championship, USF starters will be Kailey Warrior and Madison Hamai in A Division and Ghislaine van Empel and Cate Brennan in B Division. Grace Jones, Melissa Janes, Esme Pray and Dita Carlsen will be alternates and an integral part of the Bulls' national championship quest.
 
The automatic qualifiers for the 2026 championship are:

MAISA
Cornell University
Georgetown University

MCSA
University of Michigan
Northwestern University

NEISA
Yale University
Brown University

PCCSC
Stanford University
Western Washington University

SAISA
College of Charleston
University of South Florida

SEISA
Tulane University
Texas A&M University

Setting The Stage:
The Bulls have posted five top two finishes among their nine events in the spring season, including winning the USF Women's Team Race in St. Petersburg back in February, finishing second in the SAISA Women's Top 9 Fleet Race hosted by Miami at the end of March, and their second place finish in the SAISA Women's Fleet Race Championship.
 
Event Attendance:
Attendance is free. The Public will have access to SkyBeach Resort for race viewing from the beach, two pools and a two-story bar. The awards ceremony will be held at SkyBeach Resort on Monday evening.
 
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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.