BREST, France –
The U.S. Armed Forces Sailing team competed at the 53rd Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) World Military Sailing Championship in Brest France from May 31st – June 4th. For the 3rd time in its history, the French Navy hosted the World Championship with competing delegations Canada, Spain, Denmark, Greece, Poland, France and USA, consisting of over 40 athletes.
Navy LCDR Trisha Kelly, of San Diego CA returned with a wealth of experience to lead Team USA as the Chief of Mission. The team was skippered by LT Mary Baker with a crew of LT Taylor Vann, and newcomers to the U.S. Armed Forces Sports program LT Hamrick Morgan, ENS Katie Boyle, and ENS Jenna Ferrieri as both Coach and Crew.
The championship took place on J80’s in a “match racing” format where each country would face its opponents one by one during a qualification phase to determine seeding. The knock out rounds were broken down into a Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final event held on the last day to determine a winner.
Team USA finished fifth overall going up against former Olympic Athletes and World Champions represented throughout the fleet. Meeting in France was the first time the team came together, the first couple days were spent getting to know each other and learning to mesh as a crew. The team overcame some obstacles along the way making a couple crew swaps, working through various weather conditions, and honing in their techniques on the boat. All things considered, the team performed exceptionally well and are hungry for next year’s World Championship event in Greece!
France was victorious winning in a dominant fashion led by Skipper Jean Baptiste Bernaz, who jumped on a plane to compete immediately following his Laser World Championship Win, alongside his crew 4 time Nacra-17 World Champion, and first Women to win the Volvo Ocean Race. Team USA thanks the French delegation for an extremely professional event and for being such gracious hosts.