BRISTOL, R.I. — After a 2024-25 campaign that featured conference titles, national appearances, and four All-American selections, the Roger Williams University Sailing team enters the 2025-26 season prepared to build on a great 2024-25 campaign. With a talented core returning, including three All-America honorees, the Hawks aim to remain a contender at both the conference and national levels.
 
Head Coach Amanda Callahan enters her 19th season steering the Hawks' Sailing program. The Hawks have captured two National Championships in Open Team Racing under her leadership, most recently winning the title in 2023-24. 
 
Last spring, RWU capped off an impressive run with a third-place finish at the ICSA Open Team Race National Championship. The Hawks also claimed multiple titles throughout the year, highlighted by a victory at the Schell Trophy to secure the NEISA Open Championship, as well as wins at the 87th Boston Dinghy Club Challenge Cup, Sherman Hoyt Trophy, Mt. Hope Bay Invitational, and the Southern NE Team Race.
 
The Hawks made their presence felt on the women's circuit as well, placing third at the Women's Western National Semifinals and finishing 15th overall at the Women's Fleet Race National Championships. Within the NEISA competition, RWU was a consistent top performer, placing fourth at the Women's Urn Trophy and qualifying for the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship Finals.
 
A key strength for Roger Williams entering the new season is the return of three sailors honored with All-America recognition in 2024-25. Lucy Meagher (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was named to the Women's Skipper All-America Team, headlining the Hawks' women's squad after leading the team to its best national finish in recent years. Meagher was the first RWU sailor to make the Women's list. Carlos Bermudez de Castro (La Coruña, Spain) returns as an Open Skipper Honorable Mention All-American. Additionally, Maren Matthews (Harbor Springs, Mich.) earned Crew Honorable Mention All-America honors.
 
The 2025-26 schedule presents another challenging slate against some of the nation's top programs, beginning with a loaded opening weekend September 6-7 featuring the Harry Anderson Trophy at Yale, the Mt. Hope Invitational hosted by Roger Williams, the Pine Trophy at Coast Guard, and the Bears Invite at Brown. Key early-season regattas include the NEISA Open and Women's Singlehanded Championships at Brown on September 13-14 and the NEISA Match Race Championship at Coast Guard on September 20-21.
 
The Hawks will once again face a demanding October schedule highlighted by the Open Atlantic Coast Championship Round 1A at Yale on October 4-5 and the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship Round 1 at the Naval Academy on September 27-28. The fall season concludes with the Schell Trophy – NEISA Open Championship hosted by MIT on October 25-26 and the Victorian Coffee Urn - NEISA Women's Championship at Harvard that same weekend. The Hawks hope to be selected for the postseason in both the match racing National Championship in St. Petersburg, Florida, and singlehanded sailing in Norfolk, Virginia, for the ICSA Open Singlehanded National Championships on November 8-9.
 
With a veteran core returning, a large crop of talented freshmen, and a schedule packed with elite competition, the Hawks enter the 2025-26 season with the experience and momentum to make another deep run at both the conference and national levels.