Sunday surge catapults Keelhaulers to second place
SAN PEDRO, Calif. – With two bullets and a second-place finish on Sunday, the final day of racing at the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup, co-hosted by the Los Angeles Yacht Club and Cal Maritime Athletics, no team enjoyed a more successful morning and afternoon than the Keelhaulers who recorded the best race results of the 10 participating teams for the day.
Those race results helped Cal Maritime quickly climb the overall leaderboard from fifth place, a spot it occupied at the end of the first and second days of competition, to finish second overall just three points behind a College of Charleston team that barely hung on to capture a regatta championship.
USC rounded out the top three by finishing seven points behind the Keelhaulers; Hawaii and Navy finished fourth and fifth, respectively, 11 points behind Cal Maritime with UH ending the weekend ahead of the Midshipmen due to head-to-head results.
Completing the bottom half of the final standings were University of Victoria, Cal Poly, Maine Maritime, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Cal Maritime started the 10-race weekend by finishing ninth and seventh with a pair of third-place results sandwiched between the first and last races that took place Friday afternoon.
Starting Saturday's slate of races 12 points behind College of Charleston, which finished each of the three days of racing atop the leaderboard, a fifth-place finish took place before and after two seconds, giving the Keelhaulers much-needed momentum entering the final three races of the event.
Saturday's racing fueled of the biggest comebacks in regatta history, one that nearly saw the Keelhaulers erase Saturday's 12-point gap and capture its ninth Harbor Cup trophy. Instead, CofC hung on for dear life and escaped Southern California with its first regatta title since 2019.
Off next weekend, Cal Maritime will return to competition on the weekend of March 21 when it heads to the St. Francis Yacht Club to participate in the PCCSC North Designate.
Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup
March 6-8, 2026
San Pedro, Calif.
Port of Los Angeles — Pt. Fermin
Hosted by the Port of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Yacht Club and Cal Maritime Athletics
Final Results
1. College of Charleston 32
2. Cal Maritime 35
3. USC 42
4. Hawaii* 46
5. Navy* 46
6. University of Victoria 60
7. Cal Poly 61
8. Maine Maritime 67
9. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 79
10. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 83
* - Head-to-head results