Sail1Design Editor

Cascade Locks, Oregon – May 27-29 2011
by Martha Pitt

The Event: Now that all of the regional team racing championships have been completed, the fourteen berths for the ICSA/APS National Team Race Championship have been filled and the teams are gearing up to head to Cascade Locks, Oregon at the end of the month to sail for the title. Team racing challenges teams to combine boat speed, tactics, knowledge of the rules, and racing strategy with their ability to work together and sail as a cohesive unit to defeat opponents in a true test of comprehensive sailing skill. The teams that will be competing in the Gorge in a few weeks have all proven their ability to effectively team race, and their skills will surely be put to the test as they face each other for a chance win the coveted championship.

Check out the ICSA TR Rankings

The Format: The teams have been seeded into two groups according to where they finished in their regional qualifiers. The two groups separately sail a Qualification Round Robin to determine the final eight, where the top four teams from each group move on to the Winner’s Double Round Robin. The bottom six teams in the regatta sail a single Consolation Round Robin. All scores from the Qualification Round are important, but some more so than others depending on which teams make it into the top eight and the bottom six. Though the overall records do not carry over from the Qualification Round, scores from races between opponents that were in the same groups initially are carried over to the first Winner’s Round Robin and the Consolation Round (i.e. in the first Winner’s Round, teams will only sail against the teams that they have not yet faced, and the scores for the other races will be taken from the Qualification Round). That way, by the start of the second Winner’s Round, each team remaining will have faced each other an equal number of times. After completion of the second round robin, the top four teams will all face each other one more time to determine the winner of the Walter C. Wood Trophy, and the national title.

The Contenders: From the Mid-Atlantic, Georgetown sits atop many lists for this year’s nationals predictions, and rightfully so. They have a lot of experience at this event from year’s past, and have already proven themselves consistently throughout the season. Coming off of a win at their qualifiers and led by former College Sailor of the Year Charlie Buckingham, they are sure to be a force in the Final Four. Defending champion St. Mary’s has always been a force with whom to be reckoned, though this year they have struggled more than usual to stay at the top, plagued by injuries to their top sailor, Michael Menninger. The final team qualifying from MAISA is Hobart and William Smith, another very strong team that is equally consistent. HWS has proven to have a cohesive style of team racing that has been tough to beat. Both of these tough competitors will have to work hard to make it back into that Final Four round, but are certainly capable.

The three New England teams that qualified will pose a serious threat to those hoping to make it to the finals. Boston College has been a strong competitor all season on the team racing circuit with Taylor Canfield, Tyler Sinks, and Annie Haeger topping the rankings most of the season. All three sailed in Nationals last year along with all of their crews, finishing second to St. Mary’s in a tie-breaker, so the Eagles have a strong and experienced squad returning to vie for the championship. They dominated in the NEISA qualifier, losing only two races the entire event, and will look to do so at nationals as well. Yale and Roger Williams also qualified from New England, finishing second and third, respectively. Yale had a slower start to the season, but have certainly shown more improvement than any other team in the country. Their performance at the qualifier proves that they are ready for the tough competition and will be a force in the Gorge. Roger Williams, actually making their debut at Team Race Nationals, is one of the fastest teams on the water, especially in FJs, and certainly has the team racing skills to match. Cy Thompson has led this team through plenty of tough competition, so we will see if they can sustain it for one more event!
Having dominated team racing in the Southern Atlantic conference, College of Charleston is another serious contender, coming off of an undefeated qualifier and an overall prosperous season. With a deep team carrying lots of experience, they will surely be amped up to improve on last year’s fourth place finish at this event. USF and Tulane have also qualified from SAISA, and will have to go above and beyond what we have seen from them so far this season to make it into the Winner’s Round.
Reporting from the Midwest is University of Wisconsin, last year’s championship hosts, and Northwestern University. Wisconsin has shown vast improvement over the past few years and is certainly on an upswing in talent, increasingly getting themselves to the top of the fleet. Breaking into the top eight at last year’s event, they have put themselves on the map, so to speak, but they will still need to be on their A-game to compete with the traditional college sailing powerhouses. We haven’t seen as much of Northwestern on the national circuit as we have with most of the other teams, so hopefully they will surprise us with the speed and skills necessary to compete on the race course.
Finally, three teams will be representing the two conferences on the West Coast. Stanford, with undoubtedly the strongest freshmen class on the water, is young but fierce. With a steep learning curve, this team doesn’t have as much college team racing experience behind them, but don’t be fooled; the young team has some serious talent and should not be overlooked to do some damage. Joining the Cardinals from the PCCSC are the UC Irvine Anteaters, and with plenty of team racing experience and speed, they will make the qualifying round very challenging. Finally, the local team at the Gorge will be the University of Oregon, the lone team to qualify from the Northern Pacific conference. U. of Oregon is another team that we haven’t seen much of on the national circuit, so we look to seeing what they’ll bring to the competition!

The Countdown: Just over two weeks remain until the championship begins, directly following the Women’s Nationals. Teams have been training hard all year, and with the expected solid breeze that is characteristic of the Gorge, the teams that have been pushing themselves both mentally and physically are sure to have an edge at this venue. Over the course of three days, the fourteen teams will take their skills to the water to fight for the top spot; for one team, in just twenty races, picking through the competition one opponent at a time, they will prove that they deserve the title of 2011 ICSA Team Racing National Champion.

Check out the ICSA TR Rankings

 

Visit the official ICSA Team Race Nationals website:

As we head toward the ICSA Team Race National Championship, the Sail1Design ICSA Team Race rankings provide some insight going into the big event. For the first time this spring, we have a new #1, Georgetown, supplanting Boston College atop the rankings. A big mover this time was Yale, vaulting up to #5, while Charleston stayed steady along with Roger Williams, but Harvard took a fall as they missed qualifying for the big dance. Here are the latest top 15 ICSA Team Race Teams:

 

https://www.sail1design.com/rankings/icsa-rankings

 

This is a list compiled of what our panel thinks are the top teams in the country, and some did not qualify for the National Championship. To see the complete list of qualified teams, click the link below:

 

 

Stay tuned for more on the Team Race Nationals!  

http://2011nationals.collegesailing.info/events/team-race/

Sail1Design welcomes new Airwaves team member, Martha Pitt. Click here to read Martha’s Bio. Below is her first piece on college crewing.

 

By Martha Pitt, Airwaves Staff Writer.

College sailing has been changing significantly over the past few years – teams are getting stronger, more physical, and becoming a deeper, more universally competitive and athletically-serious group.  While one may find it easy to attribute these changes to improvements in skippers’ performances, as skippers tend to get much of the recognition and glory in the sport, the increased level and skill of the crews entering college sailing, and then their improvements throughout their college careers, have raised the bar in many sailing programs and therefore made the sport nationally more competitive.  In the past, students of the optimal size and athletic build could step into a boat for the very first time as a freshman and by junior or senior year be an All-American crew; now, sailors are coming into college with extensive experience from high school and junior sailing, intensifying the competition from the beginning.  These accomplished crews are raising the level of skill needed to make the team and sail with the best skippers in their respective programs, and are an extremely important factor to a team’s success on the national circuit.

Few experienced skippers would or could deny the importance of having a well-trained and skilled crew in the front of the boat.  Sloppy boat handling, misplaced bodyweight, or a poorly trimmed jib can make a huge difference in a competitive college fleet.  But on top of athletic ability and necessary sailing skills, crews need to have an exuberant amount of patience, mental flexibility, and psychological prowess to do their own job as well as keep their skippers on track.   Crews need to be able to understand racing just as well as a skipper, and understand the way their own skippers understand racing so that they can anticipate maneuvers and provide productive insight and information.  These qualities, extensive and extremely subtle, are what set great crews apart from the rest, and can make the difference for a successful team.

The bottom line is that crewing in a double handed boat is hard work, both mentally and physically, and the entry-level standards for good college crews are rising as the sport gets more competitive on the national level.  I talked to a few of college’s expert crews to gain some insight into how they got to the level at which they are today.  Neither one of crews has been recognized as an All-American, and yet they come from two of the strongest college sailing programs in the country, both have experience with success at the highest collegiate level, and know what it takes to get there.  They understand the important role that each individual crew plays on a big team, and how their individual performance, regardless of accolades, can make the whole team stronger.  Their advice should serve a guide to those looking to become the best possible collegiate sailor that they can be.

Robert Miglaccio photo

Briana Provancha, who grew up sailing in San Diego, CA, is currently senior at Boston College and has been an extremely accomplished sailor since her early sailing years, competing in youth world championships and high school nationals.  Since her freshman year of college, she has been rostered at almost every national championship in which Boston College has competed, including Women’s, Team Racing, Co-ed’s, and Sloops, winning four of them so far.  While most of her time has been put into crewing, she has been skippering more in college a nd has been a force on the women’s circuit.  In addition to college sailing, she is currently doing an Olympic campaign with fellow Eagle Annie Haeger in the women’s 470 class.

photo by Wilson Stout

Brooke Thomson, a senior at St. Mar y’s College of Maryland, is from New port Beach, CA where she grew up sailing Sabots as a child, then moved onto high school sailing, competing in several national championships and winning the Mallory her senior year.  Though limited somewhat by injuries throughout college, she has been an integral part of the St Mary’s team in her four years in college, starting on the varsity team her freshman year and helping to get skippers to a higher level of competition.  Aside from college sailing, she continues to do plenty of racing, and will be touring New England with the US Sailing Roadshow this summer to help promote the sport.

Why did you decide to become a crew?

Provancha: I got introduced to double-handed boats much earlier than a lot of people.  I was in 6th grade and sailed my first Ida Lewis 420 championship when I was just 13. Initially, because I was so young, I just got placed as a crew and I immediately fell in love with it. I loved crewing because I thought trapping was so much fun. At Point Loma High School, I crewed most of the four years and that is when I realized that crewing would be my niche, although I have found a new love for skippering since I have been at Boston College.

Thomson: I had done junior sailing but hadn’t really considered sailing as something serious until high school.  For a couple weeks I thought I was just trying it out for fun until I watched one of the better crews on the high school team sail. I simultaneously realized “that looks good” and also “I want to do that.” That day was definitely a turning point, and while the learning process was frustrating at times I had a visual image of what I wanted to be someday.

There are obviously many good crews out there, but what makes a great crew?

Provancha: A great crew doesn’t need to be told what to do. Not only do you have to know the mechanics that are considered crew responsibilities, you also have to understand sail boat racing as well as a skipper in order to recognize and anticipate tactics maneuvers.

Thomson: For many years my opinion has been that the only way to separate a good crew from an average crew is that a good crew can make any skipper sail better than they normally would. Some of my most rewarding experiences as a crew has been sailing with a mid-fleet skipper and bringing them to the top of the fleet, or sailing with bottom-fleet skipper and bringing them up to the mid-fleet. Crewing is so subjective it’s hard to tell what makes a good crew, but I think this is one area where you can distinguish the crew’s talent as being separate from the skipper.

What are the greatest challenges that you face as a crew?

Provancha: The biggest challenge I feel about crewing is the ability to multi-task extremely well. There are so many of things that have to go through your mind at any given second and it takes a lot of time in the boat to learn what is the most important thing to focus on at that particular moment. Another extremely challenging thing about crewing is that you have to keep your skipper mentally checked in to the race, despite how you are doing in the race.

Thomson: I would say that some of the biggest challenges of being a crew is that you don’t necessarily have control over what’s happening on the race course or who you sail with.  For example, at a national regatta it can make a crew feel really frustrated and even guilty when the team or your skipper isn’t sailing as well as anticipated. I think most crews have also sat on the side lines of certain regattas when they feel like they should be sailing. I think that’s one of the most irritating parts of crewing is that you can’t really predict when you’re work is going to pay off.

What is your favorite thing about crewing?  Least favorite?

Provancha: My favorite part about crewing is being physical in the boat.  My least favorite part about crewing is the bruises all over my legs. No matter how hard I try, I just always seem to accumulate new ones.

Thomson: I think overall I just love being able to make the boat go fast. I love moments in a race when it’s clear that great boat speed and boat handling launches you ahead of the fleet. I also love the moments where everything in the boat feels in sync and you and the skipper are just locked into the boat and the race. I think one of my least favorite things about crewing is that when things don’t go well- the crew gets really beaten up (both mentally and physically from the boat) which is hard on a crew that really wants to win.

Were there any hurdles that you had to overcome to get to where you are now?

Provancha: Unfortunately, not everyone is built appropriately for an athletic position, but my college coach, Greg Wilkinson, has taught me that fortunately our bodies are able to change.  I gained close to 20 pounds of muscle this past year and a half [for my 470 campaign], and this has been a very challenging process. I spend hours and hours a day in the Varsity weight room working with the BC athletic trainers in hopes of making a step closer to fulfilling my collegiate and Olympic goals.

Thomson: I definitely had my own hurdles, and everybody’s obstacles tend to be pretty different. In high school sailing I would say that it was just really hard for me to get acknowledged, however that tended to motivate me to just keep sailing better. It wasn’t until college that I felt like I got the credit I had worked for. In college I had a stellar freshman year, but was injured my sophomore year. Taking a semester off to get three surgeries was a journey that I hope not that many potential crews need to worry about but one advantage of taking some time off from school and sailing was that it was definitely a reality check. It make me realize how important it is to balance academics and a non-sailing life along with being able to sail seriously.

Aside from sailing technique, what are some other components to being a good crew?

Provancha: People joke that the crew is the therapist of the boat, but from experience I have learned this to be true.  You have to stay level headed regardless of how you are performing.  Also, a good crew always brings a bailer and cassette tape to practice!

Thomson: I think to be a good crew you really have to be a good listener, observant, and tough. You have to be pretty resilient to not let things get to you and just keep on sailing well. On the other hand, you also have to have an intuitive feeling for the person or people you’re sailing with and what’s happening in the boat. Perhaps it’s a fragile balance between being very sensitive to your circumstances and aware of what’s happening around you while also being tough enough to not let it affect you.

What kind of training do you do, both on and off the water?

Provancha: As I mentioned before, I spend a lot of time in the BC Varsity Weight room trying to become one of the strongest crews on both the collegiate and Olympic circuits. I feel that being strong allows you to be physical and that equates to speed. My goal is to make lifting weights hard in order to make sailing easy.  This is a philosophy that the BC sailing team believes
in and as a team we take the weight room extremely seriously.

Thomson: On-the-water training for me has typically been whatever a coach has planned for practice. The best way I learned how to sail was that I had a coach when I was starting out who would sail in the boat with me almost every day and train me- and that’s still where I learned most of what I know.  Off the water, I’m actually a big advocate of Pilates. Unlike yoga, it’s designed for dancers and trains you to be light-footed but strong.

What advice would you give to freshmen crews, just joining a college team?

Provancha: My first piece of advice to incoming freshman would be to really try and get some gym time before attending your first team lift. I can assure you that your coach will appreciate it and that it will not go unnoticed. Also, if you aren’t familiar with shroud tell tales, become familiar with them! Trust me, it makes sailing so much easier. They tell you where the wind is coming from, when to gybe on the downwind and if boats are in your bad air.

Thomson: For college freshman crew, I think the biggest thing is to just live in the moment and not over think the dynamics of the college team. I had a pretty successful freshman year, and I think something that really contributed to that was just focusing completely on myself and always sailing the best that I could. Whether you’ve done high school sailing or not, I think it’s always important to just absorb as much as possible in each practice and always be pushing yourself without getting distracted by what might be going on with the rest of the team.

If there was one thing that you could say to every skipper out there, what would it be?

Provancha: Before you think that the reason you are going slow is because your crew messed up, just ask yourself if you are sailing the boat perfectly around the whole race course.  More times than not, the answer will be no and in that case try to focus on your mistakes instead of your crew’s.

Thomson: For skippers, I would say if you want your crew(s) to help you the most, you need to truly consider them a teammate and partner. If you’re sailing with a crew that doesn’t have the sailing resume that you might have, if you treat your crew as a valuable part of the race, they will respond to that and be able to help you more. Saying “thank you” and “good job” after a race or regatta is nice, but where it really matters is the basic on-water communication. The crew needs to know that what they’re saying or doing is making a difference in the boat, and making sure that you guys are sharing responsibility will make a crew able to contribute a lot more to your sailing.

Any other comments about your sailing experiences that you think might be important for younger sailors?

Provancha: You don’t win national championships by sailing in the sun. This was told to me my freshman year by a senior when it was snowing and we had practice.  It really stuck with me and is something that I will never forget.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Martha’s first Airwaves article on College crewing!!

 

Martha Pitt, Airwaves Writer

photo by Robert Miglaccio

Martha Pitt grew up in Milton, Massachusetts.  Summering on Martha’s Vineyard, MA, she learned how to sail and race optis and 420s at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and fell in love with the sport.  She went to Milton Academy where she sailed on and was captain of the Varsity Sailing Team, winning the ISSA Team Race Nationals in 2002. Martha attended and graduated from Boston College in 2009 having studied History and American Studies.  With the exception of a semester studying in Rome, Italy, she sailed for four years on the Boston College Varsity Sailing Team, competing primarily on the women’s circuit as a skipper.  She received numerous NEISA conference honors, was a two-time Honorable Mention Women’s All-American, won the ICSA Women’s National Championship in 2008, and was co-captain her senior year. Martha now lives in Chicago, IL, and coaches at the Chicago Yacht Club, working with high school teams in the fall and spring, and the CYC 420 and Opti Race Teams in the summer and winter.  She continues to race as much as possible as an active sailor in the V15 and Etchells fleets. You can contact her at [email protected]This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The completion of the Eastern and Western Dinghy Semifinals sends eighteen schools to Nationals.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jennifer Vandemoer Mitchell, Toile à Voile, LLC, 763-234-8286

Long Beach, Calif. (May 1, 2011) – It was another warm sunny day for the sailors at Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier at the U.S. Sailing Center in Long Beach, CA with temperatures in the high 70s. The close racing continued and challenged sailors as the day began with the Southern California Santa Ana winds fighting the sea breeze.  This resulted in some shocking puffs and fleet inversions where one part of the fleet was sailing upwind while the other part was sailing downwind. The race committee had to abandon several races due to the conditions and eventually posted a postponement until the sea breeze filled in and the wind direction settled so racing could resume.

Twelve races total were completed on trapezoid courses in both divisions in the Eastern Semifinal and eleven total races for both divisions in the Western Semifinal. There continued to be some big buildups and pinwheels at the leeward marks on the course making good boat handling and good boat placement key to come out of the pileups on top and without any fouls. The breeze stayed steady in the afternoon and by the end of the day puffs built to be around 14 knots.

Glennon Stratton/GTSphotos.com

In the Western Semifinals the racing stayed suspenseful until the end of the regatta with game changing events. The University of Rhode Island came into the day thirty points out of 9^th place behind the University of Wisconsin, but in the second to last race everything started to change. URI finished the day winning the second to last race in A-Division (Matt Carmody, Maggie Craig, and Jamie Simmons) and placing 3^rd in the last race with their B-Division (Amy Hawkins, Caroline Hall, and Jeremy Henry) finishing the last two races in 3^rd place as well. Wisconsin could not keep up with URI’s clutch performance and placed in the double digits in the last races of the event. “The wind came up which helped us and we put our heavy-air crew in the last race in B-Division it made all the difference,” explains URI coach Clinton Hayes. URI will advance to the Dinghy Nationals for the first time since 1994.

At the top of the fleet in the Western Semifinal Boston College set out to stay close with Roger Williams University in the pre-start of race 8B and unfortunately they got into a windward leeward situation where RWU the windward boat fouled BC by drifting into them to leeward. This helped BC close the gap and take the lead in the event, “having a protest help us move ahead in the event is not a great feeling, but we sailed well and I am really proud of our team,” says Greg Wilkinson, head coach of BC. RW sailed a very strong event, but this violation caused the two teams right behind them, Boston College (defending National Champions) and Yale University to gain points and pass them in the standings taking first and second respectively.

In the Eastern Semifinals the Harvard University and Georgetown University sailors in both A-Division and B-Division continued to battle back and forth in the top of the fleet and while Harvard stayed on top for most of the day their A-Division boat had a rough last race placing 11^th which put them one point behind Georgetown going into the last B-Division race. Georgetown was able to beat Harvard in the last B-Division race to win the event. Mike Callahan, head coach of Georgetown University explained that they did realize they had a chance to beat Harvard and set out to make sure it happened.  They also had to keep their eye on the Naval Academy, who was closing in as well. The U.S. Naval Academy managed to pull ahead of College of Charleston who stood in 3^rd place after yesterday’s racing. While there was some place shifting among teams in this fleet, the top nine teams remained the same throughout the semifinal.

  

The University of Rhode Island and Old Dominion University are the two 9^th place finishers in both semifinals who make the cut to go onto Nationals.  They win the U.S. Sailing Grit Award for fighting hard and being in a position to advance to Nationals.

All of the close racing pays off for the top nine teams in both the Eastern and Western Semifinal groups as they will all advance to the ICSA/Gill Dinghy National Championships, May 30 – June 1, 2011 at the Gorge in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The tight competition will continue in the challenging conditions of the Hood River.

Congratulations to the top nine teams in each event fleet advancing on to the Nationals:

Eastern Semifinals

1. Georgetown University

2. Harvard University

3. U.S. Naval Academy

4. College of Charleston

5. Stanford University

6. Brown University

7. Tufts University

8. Connecticut College

9. Old Dominion University

Western Semifinals

1. Boston College

2. Yale University

3. Roger Williams University

4. South Florida University

5. St. Mary’s College of Maryland

6. University of Miami

7. Hobart and William Smith College

8. Eckerd

9. University of Rhode Island

For complete results and event information visit the event website: http://2011semis.collegesailing.info 

For event photos by Glennon Stratton visit GTS Photos: gtsphotos.com

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. Visit www.collegesailing.org to learn more.

2011 ICSA Coed Nationals Semifinals at U.S. Sailing Center, Long Beach, California

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Jennifer Vandemoer Mitchell, Toile à Voile, LLC, 763-234-8286

Long Beach, Calif. (April 30, 2011) – The first day of the Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s (ICSA) Coed Semifinals, where the 36 top college sailing teams in the country gathered to compete in order to vie for spots to the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championships May 30 – June 1 at the Gorge in Cascade Locks, Oregon, began with close to an hour delay this morning due to dueling winds. Once the breeze filled in from the southerly direction it provided an excellent sea breeze that ranged from 5 knots to 12 knots throughout the day with gusts to 16 knots. Six races were completed for both events in both A and B divisions. With sunny skies and warm temperatures, it was an excellent day for racing.

The competing schools are divided into two events of 18 teams each the Eastern Semifinals and the Western Semifinals, which are being run simultaneously off of the Belmont Veteran Memorial Pier, hosted by the U.S. Sailing Center and the University of Southern California’s Varsity Sailing Team. The top nine teams from each semifinal will advance to the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championships.

The racing took place on a trapezoid course (for an image of the course visit the event website: 2011semis.collegesailing.info) with the Western Semifinal beginning the day sailing on the outer course of the trapezoid and the Eastern Semifinal starting second sailing on the inner course of the trapezoid. Due to the short upwind leg of the course it caused a lot of boats to build up and overlap at the windward mark, resulting in protests and in some cases disqualifications. Similarly after the long run to the single leeward mark (there was no gate option) boats overlapped in big pinwheels making for interesting outcomes in the rounding’s; teams are hoping for a gate on the course at the leeward mark tomorrow to clean up some of the mess.

Leading the Western Semifinal regatta is Roger Williams University (Bristol, R.I.) who has proven to be a strong coed team all season ranked no. 1 in the latest Sailing World College Rankings. “When the breeze filled in it felt good.  We had good starts, made good decisions and had good boat speed”, reported Amanda Callahan head coach at Roger Williams. Their team of Cy Thompson (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I) and crew Kelly Stannard (Salem, Conn.) in A-division and Alec Anderson (Tortola, B.V.I.) and crew Sophie Bellacosa (Winchester, Mass.) in B-division are ahead of the 2^nd place team Yale University by thirteen points. Roger Williams will be looking to do more of the same on the racecourse tomorrow.

In the Eastern Semifinal Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) is the event leader, but only two points ahead of Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) in 2^nd place. The racing has been very fair and good in both events fleets, John Vandemoer head coach at Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.); felt that the racing is very tight. His team of Mateo Vargas (Treasure Island, FL) with crew Rebecca King (Santa Monica, Calif.) in A-division and Kevin Laube (San Diego, Calif.) with crew Kelly Ortel (Annapolis, MD) is currently in 6^th place in the Eastern Semifinal, however they are only ten points from 3^rd place and thirty points ahead of 8^th place.

The real goal for teams in this competition in both events is to place in the top nine so that they can advance to the ICSA/Gill Coed Nationals at the Gorge. There were no huge surprises today, the teams who came into the event having done well all season are finding themselves in the top half of the fleet today.  With the exception of Brown University (Providence, R.I.) who has performed well previously, is struggling in 9^th place after today’s racing in the Eastern Semifinals on the verge of qualification. We will follow the racing and hope that tomorrow’s conditions are as favorable as today with good sea breeze and fit in six more great races for the fleets tomorrow. With the racing so close it is still anyone’s game.

Racing begins off the pier Sunday, May 1 at 10:15 a.m. Follow the regatta and see full results live at 2011semis.collegesailing.info.

Results are protest pending at this time

Eastern Semifinals Top 9

1. Harvard University

2. Georgetown University

3. College of Charleston

4. U.S. Naval Academy

5. Tufts University

6. Stanford University

7. Connecticut College

8. Old Dominion University

9. Brown University

Western Semifinals Top 9

1. Roger Williams University

2. Yale University

3. Boston College

4. St. Mary’s College of Maryland

5. University of South Florida

6. Hobart and William Smith Colleges

7. University of Miami

8. Eckerd College

9. University of Wisconsin

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. Visit www.collegesailing.org to learn more.

by Steve Hunt

Sail1Design encourages YOUR feedback. Please share your story or thoughts at the bottom of this article!!

How cool would it be to get paid to race sailboats?  It’s VERY cool!  Fortunately I can say that, because I’m one of the lucky ones who gets paid to sail.  I am very passionate about sailing and feel extremely lucky to call it my profession.

For those of you who enjoy racing sailboats as much as I do, you may be wondering what it takes to do the same, and how someone actually becomes a pro sailor.  Hopefully my story can shed some light on pro sailing and help you decide if it’s a possibility for you.

First of all from what I have observed there seems to be a few different types of pro sailors.  There are those who are really good at working on boats, preparing winches, splicing running rigging, polishing, and doing all of the things it takes to prepare a fast boat.  There are also those who have excelled at dinghy racing and have won a lot of regattas in their life, and are extremely good at getting a boat around the race course.  Some sailors have the total package but most fall somewhere in between the two types.  Winning teams need a mix of both.

An underlying theme that all pros posses is a love for boats, racing, learning and hard work.  Becoming great at any sport requires dedication and passion.  You have to care deeply about winning sailboat races if you want to become a pro.  You have to enjoy practicing and spending the time it takes to approach mastery.  And it takes a lot of time!  Skill alone can get you far in Junior sailing but at some point “level-of-effort” separates the good from the great.

With that said, lets look at how it happened for me.  I did pretty well in Junior sailing but was nothing special, and my high school did not have a sailing team, so I mainly sailed in the summers and raced J/24s growing up.  My dream in high school was to sail in college, become a two time all american and win college nationals.  I figured if that all came true maybe I would go on and try to win a gold medal.  I thought a lot about becoming an amazing sailor and looking back at my successes I can confidently say it is important to dream big.  If you are going to think about anything, you might as well see yourself succeeding and winning.  If you fall short, you will still be better off then if you had visualized something less then the best.  Dream big!

College sailing started off rough.  My first week I was ranked 15th on the team at the College of Charleston.  When I realized there were only 14 boats I was super bummed thinking I did not make the team.  The coach told me to hang in there and work hard and it would all work out.  I did just that.  I made my mission to become great at college sailing and I never missed a practice in five years.  Literally I did not miss one practice.  I red shirted my Sophomore and Junior year, first semester, which allowed me to sail my entire 5th year.  I was playing catch up on those who had done more dinghy sailing and I was on a mission to beat them.  I remember times practicing at Charleston when practice was canceled due to light air.  I would grab a crew and sail right beside the dock against the current, staying in one place over the bottom.  If we had nice wing and wing jibes we would hold even on the dock, and if we messed up we would move backwards.  Nothing could stop me from practicing.  In addition, on some of the optional practice days no one showed up except for my crew and I so we would go out and sail rudderless by ourselves.  We spent many hours sailing rudderless and I know that helped our boatspeed tremendously.  Learn how to sail a boat without a rudder, making it look like you have one, and I can guarantee you will be tough to beat.

All of the hard work paid off.  I ended my college career a two time All American and was happy to have a successful 5th year, placing third in sloops, second in team racing and winning A division at dinghy nationals.  Our team won the Fowle Trophy that year.  At that time I felt like I had conquered the sailing world!  Little did I know I had not.  haha  After college it was either become an accountant or start sailing 470s.  After some encouragement from the Olympic Committee and supporters from my home town yacht club, Hampton Yacht Club in VA, I decided to go for it and try to sail in the Olympics.

The Olympic Campaign was a lot of work, very difficult and we had some decent success.  I don’t regret it at all but it was tough!  With two crews over the 7 years we placed 3rd in the 2000 trials, and fourth in the 2004 trials.  Over those seven years I become much better at sailing and got to travel the world sailing against the best.  The Olympic level is as high as you can get and it is EXTREMELY difficult to do well.  It is also hard raising the money necessary to support a sailing campaign.  After Seven years and a ton of Olympic Sailing/Fund Raising I decided to take a break from sailing and work full time. (I had worked in between sailing events over those 7 years)

Now to the pro sailing.  After all of my sailing experiences and years of dedication to the sport I think I was pretty good at getting around the course.  My “real” job was okay but I did not love it.  My break came when my friend Bill Hardesty, (who I became friends with through college sailing, and the Olympic campaign), asked me to come trim main on a Farr 40.  He said there was a pro spot available (Farr 40s allow four pros on the team) and asked me if I wanted to get paid for sailing.  I asked him what the down sides were to becoming a pro and he said there were a few but not many.  If you become a pro you usually get asked to sail less, because many classes have pro restrictions.  You also cannot sail J-105s, because they do not allow pros.  And if you decide to stop pro sailing, you have to wait two years before being considered an amateur again.  Another consideration is that you have to travel a lot which can put a strain on relationships.  The upsides are you usually get asked to do an important position on the boat such as trimming or tactics, all expenses are covered and you get paid to race sailboats.  I thought it sounded great because I love racing sailboats!  It also sounded neat to get paid to sail, rather than paying to sail, which I had done my whole life.

I went for it and started doing more and more sailing over the next few years, then eventually left my “real” job (project manager for a defense contractor) to sail full time.  I also starting coaching Point Loma High School during those years which helped with the income and kept me home more than if I just did pro sailing.  You find many pro sailors have a few sources of income to help diversify their income and create some level of security.  In addition to sailing for various clients they may take care of boats, do some coaching on the side, or work at a sail loft.

Getting paid to do what you love is the best thing in the world.  My life is basically sailing, coaching kids how to sail, playing sailx online (career development :), surfing (exercise), writing and spending time with my family.  I love it all and feel very ble
ssed.  I got a break because I knew a pro sailor and he respected my abilities.

Before closing I should mention that in addition to being very good at sailing you need to be able to function within a team.  You see some pros out there who are less than desirable to sail with.  They have some level of success because of their talent but they end up losing jobs because people do not have fun sailing with them.  I think it is important to work on your people skills just as much as your sailing skills.  At the end of the day people want to have fun and do well.  If you can help create a fun vibe on the boat, teach the less experienced sailors with respect, and help the boat win, you can make it as a professional sailor.  You may not get rich, but you can live comfortably getting paid to do what you love, which many people would say is being rich in itself.  Good luck with whatever you do in life and sail fast!

-Steve Hunt

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