University of South Florida Women’s Sailing will compete in two regattas Saturday, September 26, with six sailors traveling to New Orleans for the Women’s Sugar Bowl and most of the team competing at the SAISA Top 6 in St. Petersburg.
Skippers Ghislaine van Empel, Grace Jones and Taylor Ashton will join crews Carlin Fretwell, Laura Koszeghy and Esme Pray at the Women’s Sugar Bowl. The regatta will be hosted by Tulane University at the Tulane Sailing Center in New Orleans. The event includes teams from across the country.
University of South Florida hosts SAISA Top 6
Most of the University of South Florida women’s team will remain in Florida for the SAISA Top 6, hosted by USF in St. Petersburg. The races will be held at the Haney Landing Sailing Center. The event is scheduled for Saturday, September 26.
The SAISA Top 6 will feature three divisions, with all three boats’ results counting toward the team’s final score. University of South Florida sailing events are free to attend. The St. Petersburg regatta will give local supporters an opportunity to watch the Bulls compete at home.
Bulls enter weekend after two third-place finishes
Head coach Allison Jolly’s team finished third at the SAISA Top 9 in Charleston the previous weekend. The Bulls recorded multiple top-five finishes during that regatta. The team also finished third at the Singlehanded Conference Championship during its first race weekend.
Saturday’s schedule will send six University of South Florida sailors to Louisiana while the rest of the women’s team competes in the home SAISA event. The two regattas will give the program competition at both the SAISA Top 6 and the Women’s Sugar Bowl.
Allison Jolly leads established sailing program
Jolly has led the University of South Florida sailing program since 2004. She is a former USA Olympian and 1988 gold medalist. Jolly is also a 2016 Florida Sports Hall of Fame inductee and a 2019 U.S. National Sailing Hall of Fame inductee.
The University of South Florida sailing program won a SAISA conference championship in 2025 and has reached the national finals in 13 of the last 14 years. The program has won eight SAISA conference titles, was formed in 1997 and is based in St. Petersburg.
FSB Take
University of South Florida Women’s Sailing will divide its roster between two Saturday regattas. The SAISA Top 6 will count results from three divisions at the Haney Landing Sailing Center, while six sailors will compete in the Women’s Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The schedule follows third-place finishes at the SAISA Top 9 and the Singlehanded Conference Championship.
Source: Original report