NEWPORT, R.I. (May 24, 2019) – Racing concluded today in the Sperry College Sailing Women’s National Championship hosted out of Sail Newport Sailing Center in Fort Adams State Park, in Newport, R.I. The regatta was hosted by Brown University with the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) also supported by the University of Rhode Island. After four days of tough competition Brown University won the national title and Gerald C. Miller Trophy.

The last day of racing began in windy conditions. The sailors did not catch a break today as the winds held a steady 18 to 22 knots with higher gusts around 28 knots from a north-northwest direction. Because of the high winds fighting the current in the harbor there was also a significant chop around 1 to 2 feet high. The chop lessened a bit by the end of the day when the wind shifted right, moving in the same direction as the current.

The sailors completed 6 races in each division today for a regatta total of 16 races in each division. Today the sailors only raced in the Z420s to better manage the high winds sailing one set on and one set off.

Going into the racing today the top five teams were close. Harvard University was leading until around races 13 and 14 in A-division when Brown had two first place finishes and took over the lead. Harvard fought hard to hold onto second place. Yale University had a stellar day today climbing their way up to third place from fifth place yesterday.

Yale won the Ann Campbell Trophy for finishing in third place overall.

“It was a great day today and no one gave up,” says Bill Healy associate head coach for Yale. “Whoever could keep flat upwind and manage the downwind upright finished well in the racing today. We were confident in our heavy air sailing and the girls wanted to see how high they could climb.”

“We did a good job conserving energy when we could, especially having a set off helped. We got pretty close to second, which came as a surprise to the sailors when they got off the water,” says Healy.

Sailing for Yale is Louisa Nordstrom ’20 with Claudia Loiacono ’21, Graceann Nicolosi and Kathryn Clulo ’21 in A-division and Christine Klingler ’20 with Kira Woods ’19 and Catherine Mollerus ’21 in B-division.

Winning the Kleckner Trophy was Harvard finishing in second place overall.

“Brown was the best team out there,” says Bern Noack, assistant coach for Harvard. “We had a great regatta and we sailed hard and we worked hard. The conditions were tough today and we had a couple of mistakes and those mistakes are big in that much wind. Taylor Gavula and her crew Emily Wang had no idea that they had won B-division by one point when they sailed in, so that was a nice surprise.”

“We also had an injury to one of our A-division crews, Liliana Cunningham, who briefly dislocated her shoulder when her boat capsized, but managed to sail through the pain and finish the race in second place,” says Noack. “I am really proud of how the team sailed in these windy conditions – they gained experience quickly and improved throughout the day. The women were very resilient.”

Sailing for Harvard is Emma Kaneti ’22 with Emma Jakobson ’21, Jessica Williams ’20 and Liliana Cunningham ’22 in A-division and Taylor Gavula ’19 with Emily Wang ’21 and Tess Avery ’21 in B-division.

The Sperry Women’s National Champion and winners of the Gerald C. Miller Trophy is #1 ranked Brown University. This is the fifth time that the school has won this title; the last time was in 1998.

“We like breeze and we work hard to condition for it,” says John Mollicone, Barry Family director of sailing and head coach for Brown. “We felt ready for the racing today. We have really good crews in breeze and solid skippers.”

“After getting disqualified in an A-division race yesterday it was a set back, but we knew if we stayed the course we could win,” says Mollicone. “We did an awesome job executing today and towards the end of the day we kept our eye on Harvard because they were very fast.”

Sailing for Brown is Ragna Agerup ’20 with Madeleine McGrath ‘22, Maxine De Havenon and Emma Montgomery ’22 in A-division and Hannah Steadman ’20 and Sophie Hibben ’19 with Annabelle Hutchinson ’21, Emma Montgomery ’22 and Maxine De Havenon ’19 in B-division.

After racing, awards were presented at Sail Newport, for the top teams and also for the first place finishers in each division. Ragna Agerup, Madeleine McGrath, Maxine De Havenon and Emma Montgomery won the Madeleine Trophy, awarded to the low-point A-division team. They finished with 84 points, sixteen points ahead of the second place pairing from Harvard.

Taylor Gavula with Emily Wang and Tess Avery won the Judy Lawson Trophy, awarded to the low-point B-division team. They finished with 99 points, just one point ahead of the second place pairing from the overall winning school, Brown.

Racing continues tomorrow with the LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship, which will take place over the next three days on Newport Harbor. The top sixteen collegiate team racing teams will report for racing starting tomorrow at 10 a.m.


Sperry Women’s Final Results (16 races):
1. Brown University, 184
2. Harvard University, 199
3. Yale University, 214
4. George Washington University, 231
5. Boston College, 234
6. Dartmouth College, 260
7. University of Pennsylvania, 282
8. College of Charleston, 299
9. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 307
10. Boston University, 310
11. Stanford University, 335
12. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 350
13. Georgetown University, 351
14. University of South Florida, 369
15. Cornell University, 370
16. University of Rhode Island, 380*
17. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 380*
18. Bowdoin College, 414
*Head-to-head tiebreaker

**Correction: In the release sent on 5/23 it stated Maia Agerup ’20 and Emily Croteau ’19 (who sail for Boston University) as A-division sailors for Brown University, but it should be Ragna Agerup ’20 with Madeleine McGrath ’22 and Maxine De Havenon ’19

To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the event website: https://2019nationals.collegesailing.org/

Dan Egan, of Degan Media, will provide some live coverage during the events, presenting sponsor is US Sailing and supporting sponsor of the live coverage is LaserPerformance, streaming from the event website.
Team Racing: May 25, half to 3/4 day of coverage, release of Women’s recap video; May 26, full day coverage; May 27, full day coverage and awards; May 28, release of Team Racing video
Coed: May 29, full day coverage; May 30, full day coverage; May 31, full day coverage and awards; June 3, release of Coed recap.

Follow the events via the regatta app from US Sailing, learn how to sign up here: ICSA Nationals App

Additional social media updates will be available throughout the events on the regatta website.

Rob Migliaccio will be providing photos for these events.

Contact: Jennifer Mitchell |Toile à Voile for ICSA | media@collegesailing.org | 970-216-7072 m.

The ICSA sponsors and partners through the 2018-19 season are: LaserPerformance (www.laserperformance.com), title sponsor of “LaserPerformance Men’s and Women’s Singlehanded National Championship”, title sponsor of “LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race National Championship” and Official Boat Supplier of the ICSA Spring National Championships. Sperry (www.sperry.com), title sponsor of the “Sperry College Sailing Women’s National Championship”. Gill North American (gillna.com), title sponsor of “The Gill College Sailing National Championship”. Quantum Sail Design Group (www.quantumsails.com), official sponsor of the “Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year”. Marlow Ropes (www.marlowropes.com), presenting sponsor of the “Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year Award” and “Official Rope of College Sailing”. US Sailing (www.ussailing.org), “The Robert H. Hobbs Sportsman of the Year Sponsored by US Sailing” and “The 2019 College Sailing Live Coverage Presented by US Sailing”. Professional Boats (www.professionalboats.com/), official sponsor of the 2019 ICSA Spring National Championships.