College of Charleston Victorious in Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup Regatta

On March 6 through 8, Cal Poly Maritime (CPM) and the Los Angeles Yacht Club (LAYC) co-hosted the 2026 Port of Los Angeles (POLA) Harbor Cup. The POLA Harbor Cup is one of the most prestigious annual college sailing keelboat regattas. Nine teams from across the United States and one from Canada competed, with the College of Charleston Cougars ultimately coming out victorious.

The Cougars jumped out to a massive early lead by winning the first three races of the event. The closest team behind them after the first three races was the USC Trojans, with 11 points after back-to-back second-place finishes in races one and two, and a fifth in race three.

Initially, it looked as if the official co-hosts of the regatta, Cal Poly Maritime, wouldn’t be in the conversation to win the regatta. The Keelhaulers finished second-to-last in race one, and then seventh in race four after back-to-back third-place finishes in races two and three. It was in race five that the CPM team made their charge up the standings. From races five through 10, the Keelhaulers finished outside of the top two only once — a fifth in race six — and won races eight and 10. At the same time, the Cougars started to slip, not finishing in the top three for any of the final six races of the event.

While College of Charleston wasn’t quite as dominant on the back end of the regatta as they were right out of the gate, it was their consistency and ability to avoid the disaster race that allowed them to hold on and win the regatta: Their worst finish was fifth place. The Cougars finished the regatta with a final total of 32 points from 10 races, three ahead of the Keelhaulers with 35.

“Being from the East Coast, the biggest challenge for us is the waves and different water conditions,” College of Charleston helm John Polek said of the racing, per the LAYC press release. “So it’s a little tough sailing in the West Coast conditions, but we just try to stay calm and keep doing what we do best.”

The college teams across the country, including all 10 that raced in the POLA Harbor Cup, will turn their eyes toward their respective conference championships in dinghy fleet and team racing. Teams will then focus on team- and fleet-racing nationals from late April through late May.

You can see the full scores from the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Cup here.