10 college sailing teams from across the country arrived Friday to Charleston, SC for the 2023 College Sailing Match Race National Championship. The Brown University Bears sailed strongly throughout the entire weekend to take home the Cornelius Shields Sr. Trophy!
Excellent conditions for match racing on Friday allowed for the entire first stage’s Round Robin to be completed. Conditions were 6-12 knots out of the North Northeast. The defending Champions, Yale University, were perfect after day one with a record of 9-0 trying to become the first team in the history of the event to win three years in a row. The top six teams earned a berth in the Gold Round Robin to determine seeding while the bottom four teams moved to the Repechage to fight for the last two berths in the Quarterfinals.
“Our team had a great time. The College of Charleston put on a first class event with a top notch race committee as well as a top notch umpire crew,” said Bill Healy, Yale Coach. After winning their quarterfinal, Yale went on to lose their semifinal to Coast Guard. Healy Continued “[Today] was a difficult day racing against Georgetown for third place. Our team was carrying a penalty coming to the gate mark in the deciding race. We were able to keep Georgetown in ‘jail’ while also clearing the penalty. That was huge as we were able to maintain the lead and win the round 2-1. Congrats to Brown and Coast Guard for their performances.”
On Saturday, the breeze was in the low teens out of the North. The excellent racing conditions allowed for the race committee to complete the Gold Round, Repechage, a first-to-two-point Quarterfinal and a first-to-two-point Semifinals. Unlike most racing in college sailing in match racing the scores reset at the beginning of each round. Yale, Brown, Coast Guard and Georgetown made it to Semi-finals.
“This year’s event was incredible with outstanding regatta management and competition,” said Coast Guard Head Coach David Thompson. “Our team worked really hard this fall learning the match racing game and boat handling. It was a true team effort to prepare for the event. Congratulations to Brown for a well sailed regatta.”
On Sunday, the Petit Finals and Finals were completed. The breeze was between 5-10 out of the North. Brown and Coast Guard battled it out for the National Championship while Georgetown and Yale competed in the Petit Finals for third and fourth place. Brown sailed a perfect Finals beating Coast Guard in three straight races and Yale was able to outduel Georgetown winning two out of three races.
“Firstly, I want to thank my teammates, my coach Danny, the race committee, and the umpires,” said Brown skipper Liam O’Keefe, “This was an incredible event with us managing to sail 22 races across all three days even with strong current and some tricky breeze. We just focused on improving every race, and adapting to the tricky conditions, and were able to come away with the win in this incredibly competitive fleet.”
- Brown Bears
- Coast Guard Bears
- Yale Bulldogs
- Georgetown Hoyas
- Stanford Cardinal
- Charleston Cougars
- Jacksonville Fins
- Navy Midshipmen
- Tulane Green Wave
- Chicago Maroons
The ICSA’s Match Race Championship has been sailed in this format since 2010 with the venue rotating around the ICSA. The ICSA’s Fall season wraps up next weekend with the Open and Women’s Singlehanded National Championships hosted by Tulane University in New Orleans, LA.
Event Contacts:
Social Media: Kennedy Robinson (College of Charleston)
Photography: Priscilla Parker (PriscillaParker.com)
Author: Zach Runci (ICSA Communications Committee)
The ICSA sponsors and partners for the 2023 season are:
Zim, West Coast Sailing and Dwyer, Official Suppliers of College Sailing
Dermatone, Official Skin Care Sponsor and Supplier of College Sailing
Quantum Sail Design Group, Official sponsor of the "Quantum Women's College Sailor of the Year."
Marlow Ropes, Official Supplier of College Sailing
US Sailing
