Good competitive racing continued on the Columbia River.
Cascade Locks, OR (May28, 2011) – Day two of the APS/ICSA Team Race Nationals began with the sun shining and a steady 8-10 knots from the west across the course with gusts up to 14 knots, the temperatures continued to linger in the chilly 50s. The first round of the Gold Fleet started the day and the Consolation round began racing around noon. By the time the Gold Fleet made it out to begin their second round about 4 p.m., the weather was cooperating and winds were steady with gusts to 20 knots. It was ultimately a great day for racing. The race committee was able to fit 42 races in today.
The first round of the Gold Fleet races had solid sailing thanks to the conditions and competition in the top eight. Roger Williams dominated the morning of racing continuing their undefeated streak. They had an exciting race against Boston College, who is behind them after the first round with five wins. Georgetown and Charleston were behind them with four wins each. A common challenge that teams faced was getting off the starting line well, “Our starts put us behind in the races this morning, we know what to do, we just need to execute,” says Mike Callahan Georgetown’s head coach. Bill Ward, a coach for St. Mary’s echoed, “We need to consistently get better starts.” St. Mary’s and Hobart each completed round one with a three win record, Stanford and Yale finished with one win each.
The Gold Fleet took a break so the Consolation round could begin, however the nice steady winds did not continue and the fourth race of the round had to be abandoned due to lack of wind. The races were postponed for an hour before the breeze filled back in and racing could commence. There was some close racing in the consolation round, going into the last four races of the round UC Irvine, Wisconsin and Oregon each had three wins. In the end Wisconsin finished on top followed by UC Irvine, Oregon, South Florida, Northwestern and Tulane.
With the breeze up around 12-15 knots, the Gold Fleet took to the water again to begin their second round robin. Roger Williams started the round strong beating Georgetown in the first race, but ended their winning streak in the ninth race of the round to Yale, Alec Anderson, a skipper for Roger Williams explains, “I got flagged and made a stupid mistake by not completing my penalty turn. We were a little shaky in our confidence after that, but we pulled it together in the end. We are going to get a good night’s sleep and bring it tomorrow.” Roger Williams was 2-1 at the end of the day’s racing. Boston College is leading the round so far with a 3-0 record. College of Charleston had a successful afternoon with a record of 2-1 in the round, “We had a pretty good race with St. Mary’s, we finally got off the line well which was something we wanted to improve on today and we hope to take that into tomorrow,” Ward Cromwell head coach of Charleston explained. Visit the event website for complete results and more information.
It was another successful day of racing at the Gorge. The competitors sailed until after 6 p.m. and will be back at it tomorrow at 10 a.m. Tomorrow’s racing will include the end of the Gold Fleet round and a Final Four single round robin to determine the overall team race champion.
Nationals Website: 2011nationals.collegesailing.info
Video coverage of the racing and interviews with sailors are available on Sailgroove.
View more photos of the event at GTS Photos: www.gtsphotos.com
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