NWICSA News


18 Teams Advance to Sperry College Sailing Women’s Final Championship


NORFOLK, V.A. (May 23, 2018) – Racing continued today on the Elizabeth River out of the Old Dominion Sailing Center in the second day of the Sperry Women’s Semifinals. Thirty-six collegiate sailing teams from across the nation qualified to compete in these Semifinals to determine the top 18 teams who will advance to the Finals, which begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. The 36 teams are divided into two fleets of 18 teams, Western and Eastern Semifinal groups, the top nine from each fleet will make up the 18 teams who compete in the final championship.
 
Today the Eastern and Western fleets sailed in FJs and Z420s on windward leeward courses with four legs. B-division completed six races today and A-division completed 4 for a total of 12 races for the regatta in both divisions and fleets.

The morning racing started around 10 a.m. with winds from the southwest around 10-14 knots. This breeze died into a light westerly and continued to shift right and die. There was a wind delay with FJs waiting on the water and 420s sailed into shore for about an hour. A sea breeze filled in from the northeast at a steady 6-10 knots and continued for the rest of the afternoon. It was a warm day in the 80s. The cut off time for racing today was 5 p.m. and that is just about the time that B division finished their last race for the day.
 
Several protests were filed after racing and heard right away. These wrapped up around 6 p.m.

The top three teams in the Eastern fleet after yesterday’s racing changed a bit today with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brown University moving up, but Yale University maintained the lead by 19 points. The last team that made the cut for the top nine in this fleet is Connecticut College.
 
“Today went great,” says Bill Healy, associate head coach for Yale. “We had all sorts of wind and therefore lots of people sailing for us today and they all did their jobs perfectly.”

“Our focus at the end of our season was starts, speed in Z420s and it seems like we are there,” Healy says, “We will face the top schools in the finals, so it will be a tough battle. We will also focus on surviving dehydration in this heat and with fewer breaks in the finals to drink water.”
 
“The race committee did a great job today managing the changing wind and timing the delay today, it makes it easier when the races are run well,” says Healy.

Sailing for Yale is Casey Klingler ’18 with Katharina (KB) Knapp ’18 and Claudia Loiacono ’21 in A-division and Louisa Nordstrom ’20 with Graceann Nicolosi ’20, Claire Huebner ’18 and Catherine Mollerus ’21 in B-division.
 
The Western fleet shifted around a little bit after racing today with College of Charleston and Harvard University still in the top two spots, but the U.S. Coast Guard Academy came in third in front of University of South Florida beating them in a head-to-head tie breaker. Charleston finished with a 24-point lead today. The last team to qualify in this fleet is University of Pennsylvania.

“Racing went pretty well today,” says Mitch Hall, assistant coach for Charleston. “The girls were confident after racing yesterday and carried it into today.”
 
“We suffered a little bit from fatigue again today, especially after the postponement, but we have learned from it. Our focus for the next two days won’t change very much. We will continue to sail smart, fast and consistently and of course have fun.”
 
Sailing for Charleston is Alie Toppa ’20 with Annabel Carrington ’19 in A-division and Paris Henken ’19 with Liza Toppa ’20 and Elizabeth Pemberton ’18 in B-division.

Tomorrow the scoreboard is wiped clean for the Finals and it’s anyone’s regatta to win. The competition will only be stronger in the Finals group. Racing is set to begin at 10 a.m. The top 18 teams will be competing for the Gerald C. Miller Trophy over the next two days.
 
Final Nine Teams Eastern Semifinal:
1. Yale University, 96
2. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 115
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 135
4. Brown University, 142
5. Boston University, 153
6. University of Rhode Island, 159
7. Stanford University, 164
8. George Washington University, 184
9. Connecticut College, 231

Final Nine Teams Western Semifinal:
1. College of Charleston, 117
2. Harvard University, 141
3. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 146*
4. University of South Florida, 146*
5. Dartmouth College, 163
6. Boston College, 169
7. Georgetown University, 205
8. Cornell College, 209
9. University of Pennsylvania, 212
*Head-to-head tiebreaker

To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the event website: http://2018nationals.collegesailing.org/
 
Dan Egan, of Degan Media, will provide some live coverage during the events sponsored by US Sailing, streaming from the event website. Live coverage will be May 25 for the final day of Women’s, May 27 and 28 for the final round of eight and final four of Team Racing, May 30 for last day of Gill Dinghy Semifinals, and both days of Finals May 31 and June 1.

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.
  
Photo Credit: Colin Grey Voight, https://colingreyvoigt.smugmug.com/College-Sailing-Nationals-2018
Facebook and Other Social Media Outlets: Colin Grey Voigt
Instagram: @colingrey

Contact: Jennifer Mitchell |Toile à Voile for ICSA | media@collegesailing.org | 970-216-7072 m.
 
The ICSA sponsors and partners through the 2017-2018 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”.