The University of Pennsylvania Sailing Team has a long tradition of excellence and perseverance in collegiate sailing. Founded in the early days of collegiate sailing, Penn continues to compete at the highest levels of college sailing. Throughout the team’s history at Penn, it has achieved much success. In the 1970s, when the men’s basketball team was making news by winning Ivy titles and reaching the Final Four, sailors like Robert “Jack” Lefort Jr C’76, and 12-time national champion Cory Fischer Sertl C’80 were competing with success against powerhouse teams like Navy, the Merchant Marine Academy, Yale and Harvard. Penn still competes against these teams and in the past decade regained prominence due to the incredible effort of many generations of teammates, parents, and alumni who support the program and student-athletes on this team. Penn Sailing has regained its place on the national collegiate sailing stage; most notably making the ICSA Nationals in ’08, ’09, ’16, ’17, ’18, '19, '21, '22, '23, and '24.

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​The Penn Sailing Women's team has been ranked consistently in the Top 20 since 2018 and often in the Top 10, earning a podium finish at every single women's conference championship since 2019, team racing, and fleet racing. The women's team finished a strong 7th at the 2019 Fleet Race Nationals at Brown and 6th at the 2024 Women's Team Race Nationals at Harvard.

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The Open team has qualified and performed incredibly well at the ICSA Team Race Nationals in 2022 and 2023, finishing 9th and 10th respectively. These are the first Team Race Nationals the team has ever qualified for.

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Our sailing facilities are located at The Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia; a short drive from Penn’s campus. We train on a fleet of both Z420s and FJs. The team practices in the ever-flowing waters of the Delaware River. Penn competes in both the Fall and Spring collegiate sailing seasons and focuses on sailing the most competitive team racing, women’s, and open events possible.

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Program Accomplishments:

2024:

6th at ICSA Women's Team Race National Championship

10th at ICSA Women's Fleet Race National Championship

2023:

Only Team in MAISA to qualify for all 4 Spring National Championships: Women's Fleet and Team, Open Fleet and Team.

10th at ICSA Open Team Race National Championship

7th at ICSA Women's Team Race National Championship

2022:

9th at ICSA Open Team Racing National Championship

2019:

7th at ICSA Women's Fleet Race National Championship