Blog

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/