It was the final day of Semifinals racing in the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championships, hosted by Brown University with support from Dartmouth College and NEISA. The competition has been narrowed down to the top 18 teams, who will advance to racing in the finals tomorrow morning out of host site Sail Newport Sailing Center at Fort Adams.
Today was the lightest breeze day overall in the national championship series. The winds started strong in the morning up to about 12 knots from the north, but lightened up in the day. The winds were oscillating and right when it was getting to be too light at the end of the day, pressure built up again for the last races.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges held onto their lead from yesterday throughout the day today. Their A-division team placed in the top three in every race today and B-division stayed in the top ten, giving them a solid lead in front of second place team Yale University. Yale moved up from third place yesterday and Boston College finished the day in third place overall, moving up from fourth place yesterday.
Today was the first day of the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championship Semifinals hosted by Brown University with support from Dartmouth College and the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA). Host site Sail Newport Sailing Center in Fort Adams State Park is where the top 36 college sailing teams in the nation are vying for 18 spots in the championship finals, which will begin on Thursday, May 30.
The semifinals are divided into two fleets, an Eastern and Western, each with 18 teams. The top nine teams from each fleet will advance to the finals on Thursday. The sailors are racing on windward leeward courses in FJs and Z420s. Today the Eastern fleet sailed FJs and the Western fleet sailed Z420s. The fleets will switch boats tomorrow.
