CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- The Christopher Newport sailing team put together one of it's finest effort of the fall season this weekend as the Captains captured a second place finish at the Luce Trophy regatta in Maryland. Facing a talented fleet of 17 teams, CNU took an early lead before the Webb Institute clipped them in the final rotation, 69-75. 

The Captains raced out to a quick start, leading by as many as 10 points after the first two races in both A and B division. CNU held the lead through five completed finishes before the Webb Institute edged by in the sixth heat. The teams teetered back-and-forth over the next four before Webb edged out CNU by a narrow six points. 

In A division, Daniel Hodges and Liam Orr sailed together for all nine races. The CNU duo finished second with 24 points, just two shy of division leading Webb. Hodges steered the Captains' A division boat to a pair of wins and eight top-five finishes. In fact, the Captains' tandem never finished lower than sixth among the 17 teams racing. 

The B division boat saw Luke Hayes and Julia Burns pair up for the first four races followed by David Grace and Emily Learn for the latter five. As a group, the Captains finished fifth with 51 total points while Virignia Tech captured the division with a 22-point showing. Starting out strong, Hayes and Burns scored a pair of third-place efforts and three top-five finishes. Grace and Learn sailed to one victory and a trio of top-fives also. 

As a team, the two boats finished outside of the top-ten only once in 18 completed races. CNU scored 75 total points to beat out third-place Princeton by 16 and finish as runner-up by just six. 

The Captains will close out the Fall portion of the sailing schedule next weekend at the War Memorial Regatta on October 30-31 in Norfolk, Va.