| St. Petersburg, Florida (November 10, 2024) – According to PRO Todd Fedyszyn, the racing was incredibly close, but Daniel Escudero ‘25 of the Webb Institute and Sophia Montgomery ’25 of Harvard University came out ahead to secure the 2024 College Sailing Open and Women’s Singlehanded National Championship titles.
“It was awesome to see the 18 boats finishing within a minute of each other in nearly every race,” said Fedyszyn, Race Director at St. Petersburg Yacht Club. “There were a lot of race winners in the field this weekend. A testament to the level of competition here.”
The breeze on Tampa Bay started light and shifty out of the East and stayed that way for most of the eight races held on day one. Both the women’s and open fleets ended the day with razor-thin margins.
The top 5 boats in the women’s fleet were remarkably close after racing on Saturday.
Gilda Dondona ‘28 from Cornell University, and Montgomery ended the day tied for the lead with 35 points, just 16 points ahead of 2023 women’s national champion Katharine Doble ‘26 of Brown University. Montgomery’s Harvard Crimson teammate Kate Danielson ‘28 ended the day in third with 44 points.
In the open fleet, Martins Atilla ‘27 from Brown University ended the day with 31 points, a margin of only seven points ahead of Escudero in second place, and 18 points in front of Mathias Reimer ‘27 of Yale University.
“These were challenging conditions,” said Sophia’s coach Bern Noack. “Competitors were forced to adjust to the race and play to their strengths. The sailors needed to be good through the range of conditions.”
The changing conditions contributed to a scoreline shakeup as the breeze and sea state picked up on Sunday. A third place at the start of the day gave Escudero the momentum needed to secure and hold the top spot with three races left in the series. Meanwhile, Montgomery’s consistent top-five finishes carried into the second day and secured her lead.
“I’m really happy to come away with the win,” said Montgomery. “Having to be consistent through a variety of different wind conditions helped me stay in it.”
Escudero’s win is the first college sailing National Championship for the Webb Institute, according to Techscore. Results in Techscore, the scoring software used in college sailing, go back as far as 2008.
“I’m incredibly proud,” said Escudero. “ [A win like] this doesn’t come often for Webb and I couldn’t have done it without their support.” |
