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 The final day of sailing on the Columbia River Gorge brought great conditions & a title defended.

 

 

Cascade Locks, OR (June 1, 2011) – Today was the last day of the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship. The winds on the Gorge cooperated and the competitors were able to get in a good day of racing. The westerly winds stayed steady around 10-12 knots gusting higher later in the day. Although it was chilly and wet at times, the sun peaked out a little bit too; today’s weather was pretty typical of the last week at the Gorge. Both A-division and B-division completed 14 races in the event; four races in A-division today and six races in B-division were sailed on Windward/Leeward courses. In the end it was Boston College who commanded the lead and won the Henry A. Morse Memorial Trophy.

The day began with nice breeze so B-division was able to hit the water right away for the first races. It was a game of finding good pressure and riding it up the course. The steadier wind helped on the downwind legs so the sailors could fight the current and hold their boat positions a little better. The racing did stay close and compact, as it has been the last two days. In race 9B one of the leeward gate marks broke free and drifted upwind, so half of the fleet began to sail for it. Redress was filed for the loose mark and the conclusion was to re-sail the race. The mark was re-set and racing continued. Race 9B was re-sailed after race 12B; the old scores thrown out and the fair race scores were recorded.

Teams who were controlling the day and always had a presence in the top of the fleet were the top six teams most of the day: Boston College, Georgetown University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, College of Charleston and Harvard University. The nearly all-freshman Stanford University team had some great moments winning race 11B and having a few top five finishes in both fleets. In A-division Charlie Buckingham ’11 with Karen Phillips ’11 and Sydney Bolger ‘12 for Georgetown, Michael Menninger ’11 with Franny Kupersmith ’11 and Ben Lezin ‘13 for St. Mary’s and David Thompson ’11 with Catherine Pelo ’13 and Hannah Littell ‘11 for Hobart and William Smith separated themselves in the scores early on sailing really consistently in the event. A highlight in B-division was Taylor Canfield ‘11 with Emily Migliaccio ’11, Patrick Hession ’13, Emily Massa ’12 and Daniel Bloomstine ’11 from Boston College, who strongly led the division throughout the regatta.

In the end of the day the wind picked up with gusts around 18 knots. Before B-division took to the water for the last set of the day Boston College was 26 points ahead of Hobart who had 178 points and Harvard and Georgetown were tied with 185 points. It was left up to the B-division sailors to break ties and do what they could to extend leads or pass boats. The wind was quite strong which made the sailors work even harder for their scores. Before the last race Boston College had secured the championship and won the Dinghy title.

Boston College sailed a smart regatta and defended their Dinghy National Championship title (which they won in 2010). “There was a lot of pressure on these guys, it was their experience at this level [of competition] that really helped them to handle the pressure,” Greg Wilkinson, Boston College head coach explained. Contributing to their success was their “ability to concentrate on the sailing and not the results…they are really, really quick too,” Wilkinson continues, “I am super proud of the team, they sailed great.” Great indeed, Boston College finished the regatta with 161 points 27 points ahead of Hobart and William Smith in second place. Sailors on the winning team were: A-division-Tyler Sinks ’11, Laura McKenna and Lucy Wallace ’11, B-division- Taylor Canfield ’11, Emily Migliaccio ’11, Patrick Hession ’13, Emily Massa ’12 and Daniel Bloomstine ’11.

Hobart and William Smith commanded the racing and made a great comeback to finish the event in second place. “We had good speed in all the conditions of this regatta, but in the last day and a half we really stuck to our game plan and aimed to stay in the top eight,” says Scott Ikle, Hobart and William Smith’s head coach. “This group has worked really hard not just this year, but the last three years, as a team they have had a long hard road with a lot of ups and downs. They never gave up and I am really proud of how they approached this regatta. They did an outstanding job focusing,” explains Ikle. Hobart and William Smith finished the regatta with 188 points.

Harvard also had a great event, staying consistently in the top of the fleet. When it came down to the last races and Harvard was tied with Georgetown, Harvard’s B-division sailed “one of the best runs in the whole regatta and just took the lead,” says Mike O’Connor Harvard’s head coach. They finished fourth and first in the last two races of the day. “Because the wind was steadier today,” explains O’Connor; “it made sailing a little easier because you had more control.” O’Connor expressed his pride for his team, “I am very, very proud of the team, all year and how they executed at this event. We had a shot at getting second, but we are happy where we finished and we are in good company in the top three.” Harvard finished in third overall with 190 points.

Today was the final day of all the Collegiate National Championships. The teams will enjoy a final banquet tonight where the awards for Dinghy Nationals will be presented as well as the ICSA All-Americans, the Everett B. Morris Trophy for the College Sailor of the Year, the Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award, the James Rousmaniere Award for Student Leadership, the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the Best Overall Team and the ICSA Hall of Fame inductee. The last ten days of racing have been competitive and exciting. Congratulations to all of the sailors who competed. Visit the event website for full results and information about the three National Championships.

Nationals Website: 2011nationals.collegesailing.info

 Despite a long morning postponement the sailors had great afternoon breeze and racing in day two of the Championship.

 

 

Cascade Locks, OR (May 31, 2011) – Today was the second day of the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship on the Columbia River Gorge. The day began with little wind until around noon when the wind came up and B-division headed out to the course first because they finished two races short of A-division yesterday. The wind was a steady 8 knots from a westerly direction with temperatures in the mid to high 50s. Both A-division and B-division completed six races today, however B-division is still one set behind A in the series.

The breeze gradually built throughout the afternoon and there was no room for error on the racecourse as the racing was close and the fleet stayed fairly condensed. Boston College, Harvard University, St. Mary’s College, College of Charleston and University of Miami all started the day out strong. Although Hobart and William Smith suffered a disqualification in race 6B for a foul, sending them back in the scores, they managed to bounce back to third overall at the end of the day although only one point ahead of St. Mary’s College.

St. Mary’s A-division Michael Menninger ‘11 with crew Franny Kupersmith ’11 had a great day sailing very consistently and leading A-division at the end of the day, “They are a really good team, a nice pairing. They are super quick downwind and they stayed out of trouble. They were also able to judge the lay lines well today, which has been troublesome on the racecourse,” explains Adam Werblow St. Mary’s head coach. Menninger also sailed a race with Ben Lezin ’12 today. St. Mary’s finished the day in fourth place overall.

By race 6A the wind had increased to 14-knots gusting higher and the competitors were sailing hard. Harvard turned it on today with consistency in both A and B-divisions. Harvard’s A-division sailors Alan Palmer ‘11 and Quincy Bock ’11 were able to close the gap this evening, now only two points behind Menninger and Kupersmith. They won the last race of the day and Mike O’Connor, head coach of the Harvard team explains, “It was important to get that bullet, we needed it, we have a big gap to fill [for first place overall].” O’Connor described the stressful downwind legs: “It is incredibly close racing, there are 10-12 boats abreast on the runs, so the trick is to use a puff to take you the whole way down. On the final approach to the mark it was important to have good boat placement and not get sucked into the pack of boats behind.” Harvard’s B-division, John Stokes ‘11 and Meghan Wareham ’11 placed second in four of the eight races they have sailed in the event. They finished the day third in their division.

Boston College finished the day on top of the leader board with a ten-point lead over Harvard. Tyler Sinks ’11 with Laura McKenna ’13 and Lucy Wallace ‘11 in A-division and Taylor Canfield ’11 with Emily Migliaccio ’11 and Patrick Hession ’13 in B-division are sailing strong in their divisions staying in the top of the fleet in each race avoiding mistakes. Canfield and Migliaccio are leading B-division by 18 points, “They are really quick and got off the line well, there was nothing too special about their sailing today other than they were sailing really well,” says Greg Wilkinson, Boston College’s head coach. “They [the team] had a good feel for what was working upwind and especially downwind, we spent some time working on the downwinds,” Wilkinson admits. Finding the pressure was particularly important today because of the winds oscillating up and down. The fleet is very close and the racing will continue to stay intense and competitive, especially in the top half of the fleet.

It was another late day of racing for the competitors who showed stamina and focus on the racecourse today. The final day of racing for the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. Find full results, information and a live Twitter feed on the event website.

Nationals Website: 2011nationals.collegesailing.info

View more photos of the event at GTS Photos: www.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. The ICSA National Championships are sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopsider.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), Gill North America (www.gillna.com),

 It was a slow start in light winds for the first day of racing at the Dinghy Championship.

 

 

Cascade Locks, OR (May 30, 2011) – Today was the first day of the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship where 18 teams from across the nation have qualified to compete in Cascade Locks, OR for the Henry A. Morse Trophy. Gill North America is a title sponsor of the event with the ICSA; it is hosted by the Columbia Gorge Racing Association and the Northwest Intercollegiate Sailing Association.  The teams arrived to the sailing venue on the Columbia River Gorge to fairly light winds around 6 knots and the wind continued to fluctuate throughout the day with a few postponements until the wind finally filled in the evening from a westerly direction at around 10 knots. A-division completed four races and B-division completed…races on a Windward/Leeward course four and five times around.

The racing got started in light steady winds for the first two A-division races. Teams were looking to the right side of the course to stay in the current that would help to push them up the course on the upwind legs. Yale University and Boston College started their day off strong in A-division finishing the first set in first and second. Right behind them were Hobart and William Smith Colleges and Georgetown University. Once B-division came on the water for their set, the wind had died down and the boats were barely moving on the course. This caused the race committee to postpone the racing until enough breeze filled in to continue to have fair races.

B-division waited on shore for three hours until the wind finally picked up enough to send the fleet back out to the course. The races were competitive and close with the fleet pretty compact at times and boats finishing very close together. Hobart and William Smith’s B-division sailed well getting two firsts in their set followed closely by Harvard University and Boston College. Once B-division completed their set the wind died down again and the racing was postponed for another hour.

By 5:30 p.m. A-division was back on the water starting their third race of the day in about 10 knots of westerly breeze. In the second race the wind died down around 6 knots challenging the sailors’ patience. Roger Williams University, coming down from their high of just winning the APS/ICSA Team Race Nationals, started to show up with the leaders on the racecourse. They finished third in race 4A behind Hobart William Smith and St. Mary’s College of Maryland. B-division went out on the water, but the wind would not cooperate, “It was similar to the Women’s event earlier this week where the wind just stayed really light—we didn’t have any rain today, though,” Kyle Eaton, the regatta chairman explained.

In the last sets of the day the wind petered out, but the racing stayed close. Hobart and William Smith kept their focus despite the late hours of racing and finished the day on the top of the leader board. It is still very early in the regatta and there is a lot more racing to go, “I hope that Dave [Thompson ‘11] and Sam [Blouin ‘12] continue their good work…We have had a great start to the regatta,” Scott Ikle, head coach for Hobart and William Smith, proudly states. Ikle continues, “The conditions today were truly challenging, no wind and a lot of current. It made for very long tedious runs.” Lets hope for better conditions tomorrow and a lot more races.

Some of the competitors who have competed in the previous two National Championship events are accustomed to the conditions the Gorge has been presenting over the last week, where the wind and weather are not very predictable so keeping focus on and off the water becomes an important part of success. Racing is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the second day of the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship. Visit the event website for full results, live coverage and more information.

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

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. The ICSA National Championships are sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopsider.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), Gill North America (www.gillna.com)

The final and third day of racing for the Team Race competitors brought nice Gorge conditions to tie up the event.

 

 

Cascade Locks, OR (May 29, 2011) – The final day of racing at the Columbia River Gorge for the APS/ICSA National Championship has ended with Roger Williams University coming out on top to win the Walter C. Wood Memorial Trophy. Today was the culmination of three days of racing which included six round robins. The fourteen top collegiate team race teams in the country, representing the seven districts in the ICSA, gathered to compete for the championship. The Columbia Gorge Racing Association and the Northwest Intercollegiate Sailing Association organized a great event for the sailors as the regatta hosts.

The competitors arrived at the sailing venue to a steady 15-knot breeze and a cool 45 degrees. The sailors hit the water to complete the second round of the Gold Fleet round robin. There was close and exciting racing down to the end. The winds continued to gust in the 20 knot range and each team fought to move on. One team who sailed particularly well was the College of Charleston, who beat Boston College in a blustery race finishing with a solid 1,2,3. Charleston went 5-2 in the second round of the Gold Fleet and Boston College went 6-1 in the round, which advanced both of them to the Final Four.

Although St. Mary’s College of Maryland sailed well in the second round, when their score from the second round was combined with their previous record it was not enough to advance them. The two other teams who moved on to the Final Four were Georgetown and Roger Williams. Roger Williams had been sailing very well through the whole event, until this morning when they lost the first races of the day. The Roger Williams sailors knew that they had to win all three races in the Final Four to win the event, “The break in the middle of the day [between the Gold Round and the Final Four] gave us a chance to get focused. They played the corn hole bean bag game and took their minds of the morning’s races,” explains Amanda Callahan head coach for Roger Williams.

Once Roger Williams hit the water, “they knew what the job was and they went out and did it,” says Callahan. They were tied with Boston College going into the last race of the Final Four and the race was not short of excitement. Boston College was ahead at the start of the race and the pairings kept changing all over the course. By the leeward mark Boston College was spinning a penalty turn and Roger Williams advanced up the beat to win the race finishing with a first and second combination. The teams’ focus helped them stay in the race and win the event.  The winning team included skippers Cy Thompson ‘11, Alec Anderson ‘13, Sean Bouchard ’12 with crews: Kelly Stannard ‘12, Sophie Bellacosa ‘13, Bianca Rom ’13, Tyler Wilson ’12, Cameron Pimentel ’13, Joshua Saltmarsh ’11, Haley Powell ’13 and Alyssa Seifert ’13.

It is Roger Williams’ first appearance at the APS/ICSA Team Race National Championship and therefore the school’s first win. They join an elite list of schools that have previously won the title including St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Boston College and Georgetown University among others. “Colin Merrick [assistant coach for Roger Williams] and I really focused on team racing with the group. Colin was huge in preparing them for this event, we spent a lot of time working with them and it was fun to watch them practice and race,” says Callahan. It was particularly big for the Roger Williams program because the Athletic Director for the school was at the regatta watching from start to finish, it is the first time an athletic team at the school has made it to a championship event.

Tonight the competitors will enjoy an awards banquet for the Team Racing Championship and tomorrow many of them will continue racing in the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship. The racing is set to begin at 10:45 a.m. after a competitor’s briefing and some practice time. Find event details, full results and live coverage including a live Twitter feed on the event website.

Final Four Results:

1. Roger Williams University

2. Boston College

3. College of Charleston

4. Georgetown University

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

 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

The first day of the APS/ICSA Team Race Nationals had varying conditions and competitive sailing.

 

 

Cascade Locks, OR (May 27, 2011) – Today was the first day of the APS/ICSA Team Race National Championship for the Walter C. Wood Memorial Trophy. There are fourteen schools competing in the event covering the seven ICSA conferences. The first part of the event divides the schools into two qualifying groups of seven each. Group one sailed first in the morning and group two in the afternoon. The qualifying round is one round robin to determine the top four teams from each group. The top eight teams are the “gold fleet” and the remaining six teams sail a consolation single round robin, while the gold fleet will sail a double round robin. The “gold fleet” rounds will then determine the top four teams who will sail a single round robin to determine the overall champion.

The day started with sun and breeze 10-12 knots from a westerly direction. The temperatures were in the mid to low 50s most teams were wearing dry suits to accommodate for the cool winds and water. The first round of races moved quickly, so the coed teams did not have much time to evaluate the strong current in the Columbia River. The weather started to change rapidly in the middle of the day fluctuating between light winds and sun to rain and gusts. In the middle of Group One’s rotation, puffs started to roll down the course in the 20-knot range and one clocked at 32 knots. The racers felt every variation in wind pressure and had to make quick decisions about who to sail with when rotating.

Roger Williams University started the day strong beating Georgetown University in the first race. “We were more prepared than Georgetown in the first race and that gave us an edge,” says Alec Anderson a skipper on the RWU team. The RWU team would go on to be undefeated this morning. Amanda Callahan the RWU head coach explained, “the toughest part this morning was making the decision of who should sail with the wind changing so much, but we found a happy medium and we had it right most of the races.” The support that the RWU sailors felt from their sailors onshore was integral to their day and they made a lot of group team decisions. “We are feeling good, we know there is a lot more racing to go, and it feels great to go into the next round undefeated,” Anderson states.

Most schools cycled through a lot of different crews this morning to accommodate for the conditions and this was the case for Georgetown as well, “everyone is fit and strong, so despite it being tricky to decide who should be sailing, we were going to be okay no matter what,” says Mike Callahan head coach at Georgetown University. Georgetown ended the first round in second with only one loss to Roger Williams. Callahan explained, “we made some mistakes today, but we learned—we won some races where we came from behind and it felt good to know we were fast.”

College of Charleston finished the round in third place, and they felt the challenge of deciding on crews as well. Ward Cromwell, head coach for Charleston expressed, “we are not totally happy, but we can move on and still do well with two losses going into the next round.” Yale finished fourth in Group one and will advance to the “gold fleet”. Group Two hopped in the boats and got started racing right away. The same conditions continued throughout the day mixture of rain, clouds and the wind fluctuating up and down.

Boston College dominated Group Two beating St. Mary’s College right off the bat, “our opening race with St. Mary’s was great, we want more like that,” says Greg Wilkinson, head coach of the BC team. Wilkinson continues “we are sailing fast, but there is still a lot of good racing to come.” BC continued their winning streak and finished the Group Two round undefeated.

The wind lightened up into the evening causing the end of Group Two’s round to move slowly. The difficult conditions on the water again pressured each team to focus on their team race plays and pay attention to their boat positioning on the course. Racing continued until past 7 p.m. due to a black flag call in the Hobart vs. Wisconsin race earlier in the afternoon. The hearing resulted in the decision to have a re-sail. Hobart won the re-sail against Wisconsin and then created a three-way tie between Stanford, University of South Florida and Hobart who all had three wins at this point. Stanford and USF re-sailed with Stanford coming out victorious. In Hobart vs. USF, Hobart won.

The four teams that made it into the “gold fleet” from Group Two are Boston College, St. Mary’s College, Stanford and Hobart. Tomorrow’s weather prediction is looking good and the competitors are hoping for good breeze to continue into the “gold fleet” and consolation racing for day two of the APS/ICSA Team Race Nationals. The racing is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Visit the regatta website for full results and live coverage.

Gold Fleet (in no particular order)

Roger Williams

Georgetown

College of Charleston

Yale

Boston College

St. Mary’s

Stanford

Hobart

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

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. The ICSA National Championships are sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopside
r.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), Gill North America (www.gillna.com),