TAMPA, FLA., MAY 17, 2026 – Head coach Allison Jolly's USF sailing team ended its 2025-26 season with a 12th place finish in the Western Division Semifinal of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America (ICSA) Women's Fleet Racing National Championship in St. Petersburg.
 
The championship featured 36 teams racing in two 18-team semifinals (Western and Eastern) on Tampa Bay in the vicinity of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. South Florida, which earned an automatic bid after finishing second in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA) Championships, was represented by starters 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 served as alternates.

Sailing took place under sunny, warm weather with temperatures in the mid-80's. Winds started out at 8-10 knots from the NE and built to 10-12 knots with gusts to 14. Racing later in the day took place with NW winds from 13 to 18 knots and very flat water. All races were W4 or W5, averaging 19-20 minutes in length.

Bowdoin College won the Bulls division with a score of 106, followed by Yale (107), Cornell (109), Brown (116) and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (155). The Bulls registered a score of 206 across 10 races, posting a score of 131 in Division A races and 75 in Division B – winning one race and posting three top five finishes in Division B races.

The top nine teams in each semifinal advanced to finals racing Sunday and Monday.

Follow us:
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF Sailing news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
 
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.