The second most important college sailing competition of the year was held over the weekend of May 1-2, and for the second consecutive year the action was dominated by schools from the East Coast. From the 200+ active racing programs that compete under the auspices of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), 36 schools were seeded, based on performance, into one of the two semifinal rounds of the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championship: the ICSA National Championship Eastern Semifinals which took place at College of Charleston (Charleston, SC) or the ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA).For the 18 schools competing at each location the stakes were high – only a top-nine finish would qualify them for the Finals which will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin from May 25-June 3 in Madison, WI.
At the Western Semifinals in Seattle, light air on day one only allowed for the completion of four races – two each in A and B Division. When racing wrapped up on day two, with ten races completed in both divisions, the point spread among the top three teams was a good indication of the close competition: Yale won the event with 89 points, St. Mary’s was second with 91 and Roger Williams was third with 98. Also qualifying to move on were Old Dominion University, Harvard University, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Salve Regina University, SUNY Maritime College and Stanford University who won the last race in B-Division to secure the coveted ninth spot.
“It was a great event,” said ICSA President Mitch Brindley who was at the Seattle semifinals. “The organizers did a super job with the conditions. On day two, boats were getting to the weather mark overlapped so it was exciting. Lots of boats were fighting for the spots, especially the battle for ninth. Everyone who showed up had to bring their national championships focus in order to qualify.” The big story in Charleston was the dominating performance of Boston College.
Fifteen races were sailed in both A and B Division, with BC winning 11. Even the addition of penalty points in one race couldn’t ground the Eagles and they won the event by a 35-point margin over the hometown team from College of Charleston. While there were favorable weather and wind conditions – good breeze, air temps around 80 and sunny skies – the current on the Cooper River was a challenge for the competitors to master. Georgetown University took third followed by the University of Vermont, Tufts University, Brown University, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of South Florida and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. ICSA is sponsored by Gill, Annapolis Performance Sailing, Marlow Ropes, Quantum Sails, Laser- Performance and US SAILING. For more information, visit collegesailing.org. ✦
ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals
Yale University (New Haven, CT) 89 points St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s City, MD) 91 Roger Williams University (Bristol, RI) 98 Old Dominion University (Norfolk, VA) 112 Harvard University (Cambridge, MA) 116 Hobart & William Smith Colleges (Geneva, NY) 125 Salve Regina University (Newport, RI) 133 SUNY Maritime College (Throggs Neck, NY) 151 Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) 175
ICSA National Championship Eastern Semifinals
Boston College (Chestnut Hill, MA) 114 College of Charleston (Charleston, SC) 149 Georgetown University (Washington, DC), 157 University of Vermont (Burlington, VT) 201 Tufts University (Medford, MA) 207 Brown University (Providence, RI) 214 U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD) 217 University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, FL) 227 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, NY) 278
Jan Harley of Media Pro International contributed to this report.
