The Roger Williams University Sailing team secured its spot in the ICSA/APS Team Racing National Championship over the weekend by taking second place in the New England Team Race Championship/Fowle Trophy at Connecticut College.

The sailing team breaks up into groups of seven students according to each member’s personal ranking, and those small groups travel to different locations on the East Coast.

RWU Sailing is part of the New England Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (NEISA), which is known for being the strongest district in the country. In other words, membership in this association can make qualifying more difficult than it is for schools in other districts.

Senior Rebecca Anderson described the scene when she and her teammates learned of the news that they had qualified.

After their regattas were over, two other groups on the sailing team had come to visit her group and arrived when they found out that they had qualified. Anderson said, “I love that I was able to share that moment with rest of the team.”

Anderson said, “Honestly, when coach came back with the information, we all started hugging. Our team has… worked through a lot [in] the last two years, and finding out that we qualified in a relatively comfortable position — no sail offs, no protests, and not by one point — that was a great feeling.”

“We haven’t gone to Team Racing nationals since 2015, so this was a big win for us,” said senior Megan Roach. “It was awesome knowing that all of our hard work finally paid off and our team racing season isn’t over yet.”

Although the team is celebrating this latest victory, Roach added, “now we have to change our focus to fleet racing and keep pushing and working hard. We still have two more qualifiers so there’s no time for slacking off.”

The RWU Sailing team has proven that its sailors are dedicated and determined to win. On April 2, it was announced that the RWU Sailing team ranked first in the nation in the Co-Ed division for the third time in the history of Roger Williams Sailing.

There are three nationals in college sailing: Team Racing, Women’s Fleet Racing, and Co-Ed Fleet Racing. The Women’s Fleet Racing regatta will take place on May 22 through May 25; the Team Racing regatta is scheduled for May 26 through May 28; and the Co-Ed Fleet Racing regatta will finish off nationals May 29 through June 1. All of these regattas will be held at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.