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Miami, FL– 5/24/2021   Antilles School of St. Thomas, USVI prevailed in the 12-team Baker TR National Championship held at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, FL this past weekend. Conditions were excellent both days, with a full round-robin sailed on Saturday in a NE wind 15-23 knots, and on Sunday the NE winds were down around 9-13 knots. Sunday’s double-round robin for the top 4 was not to be, as a 3-team tiw-breaker for 4th place ate up all of the morning sailing. In the end, Antilles sailed calmly, worked together brilliantly and topped home team Ransom Everglades in a best-of-three sail-off to claim the title. Their team is a worthy championship group. Finishing 3rd overall was Severn School from Annapolis, MD.

By Airwaves writer Katie Bauer
College and high school Nationals are taking place this year after a Covid-induced hiatus in 2020. College championships are currently underway in Annapolis, MD, and high school championships will commence May 22nd and 23rd in Miami, FL. This is an exciting time for students and their coaches since sailors appreciate any opportunity to compete at a high level, however, actual participation in the races is not a foregone conclusion for everyone as the pandemic’s effects have disparate consequences for those involved.

Ken Legler is the Head Coach at Tufts University in the Boston area. He has held this position for over 40 years and has seen the school win 20 national championships (across a variety of categories) during his tenure. Considering he was previously head coach at the US Merchant Marine Academy, this year’s venue of the US Naval Academy seems well suited for him. Tufts University administration made the decision about whether its athletes could compete, and when sailors were granted permission, Ken was happy.

According to Ken, it’s been a tough year. His top woman skipper is not in school and therefore unable to compete. His coaching model relies on being able to race Flying Juniors and 420s every weekend, but since regattas have been reduced by 75% this spring, his practice plans had to shift. The thought of Nationals is therefore a welcome reprieve from the harsh reality of what his program has been dealing with. Though he admits, “It’s not as special winning or doing well with so many great teams not here.” Ever the pragmatist, he concludes, “Then again, we would have had more trouble qualifying had they been.”

Rob Hurd is Waterfront Director at Tabor Academy, an international school on Buzzards Bay. When not coaching sailing, Rob teaches Physics and Nautical Science, serves on the Interscholastic Sailing Association and New England Schools Sailing Association boards, and runs a boys’ dorm on the school’s campus. All of this activity gives Rob a broad perspective and allows him to understand why Tabor is not competing in both high school Nationals this year.

Because Tabor is a boarding school, there are extra considerations when it comes to the safety and security of its students. If an individual in its community gets Covid, that can affect the entire boarding population. Travel to Miami for the Baker would mean a series of negative PCR tests upon return as well as having to quarantine for 5-7 days, which does not seem fair to seniors in the final days of their high school careers.

In spite of new regulations, Rob is optimistic. Tabor saw healthy interest in its sailing program this year, which he theorizes could be due to the pleasant conditions that freshmen experienced out on the water last fall. He’s simply glad they “got the bug.” As for the Baker, he calmly said, “We accept it and we chose to move on. Growth and improvement as well as getting kids on the water are the goals this year.” Instead, they’ll hope to qualify for the Mallory in Cleveland as that will be post-graduation and therefore safer for campus.

Meanwhile over in Annapolis, Ken is either out on the water or grabbing sustenance at Chick & Ruth’s. Competition is fierce but a man’s got to eat. Stay well, Ken, and good luck to all the sailors out there!

ANNAPOLIS, M.D. (May 20, 2021) – Racing concluded today in the College Sailing Women’s National Championship hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy. After two days of challenging racing in light breeze, the College of Charleston came away as the winners of the national championship and the Gerald C. Miller Trophy.

The racing over the last two days brought light winds and shifty conditions. The first day was all about boat speed and the Boston College sailors excelled at this winning the day – although closely followed by the College of Charleston, Tulane University, Stanford University and the U.S. Naval Academy – in the top five.

The sailors completed 10 races in each division on the first day of competition and 6 races today for a regatta total of 16 races in each division. The sailors raced in Navy’s Z420s and Georgetown University’s Club Flying Juniors (FJs) on the Severn River. The Annapolis Yacht Club, Severn Sailing Association, Eastport Yacht Club and the Annapolis Sailing School supported Navy by storing boats and hosting four schools on their property each day to allow for proper distancing.

Going into the racing today the top five teams were close on the scoreboard. Boston College was leading the College of Charleston by 27 points, but today the conditions were shiftier and more dynamic and less about straight line speed, so the competitors saw less consistent finishes.

In the second to last race of the day Boston College was only one point ahead of Charleston and Tulane was trailing by only six points. The regatta came down to the last race and any of the three teams could have won it. In the end Charleston came out on top only one point ahead of Tulane and Boston College finished three points behind Tulane.

Boston College won the Ann Campbell Trophy for finishing in third place overall.

“We had a battle out there,” says Greg Wilkinson, head coach for Boston College. “We have a young team of women sailors and they did a great job, we were so glad to be in the position that we were in and it may not have been the result we wanted, but it was perfect sports on the water.”

“I am very happy for the ICSA to be able to have a proper double handed national championship and Navy worked very hard to make this happen and they did an excellent job,” says Wilkinson.

Sailing for Boston College was Colleen O’Brien ’24 with Michaela O’Brien ’24 in A-division and Libby Redmond ’24 with Katelyn McGauley ’24 in B-division.

Winning the New England Women’s Trophy is Tulane University finishing in second place overall.

“Our team is thrilled to have closed out the championship strongly today,” says Charles Higgins, head coach for Tulane. “We wanted to stay loose and confident knowing it would be a long day, and the ladies really put together a terrific performance.”

“This is a great step for the program, and it took our whole team to get to this level,” says Higgins. “We’re certainly excited about the direction the program is headed.”

Sailing for Tulane was Ciara Rodriguez-Horan ’22 with Grace Siwicki ’22 in A-division and Caroline Benson ’23 with Andrea Riefkohl Gonzalez ’24 in B-division.

The College Sailing Women’s National Champion and winners of the Gerald C. Miller Trophy is the College of Charleston. This is the third time that the team has won this title.

“We are stoked,” says Ward Cromwell, head coach for Charleston. “The regatta was really well run under the circumstances and despite Boston College’s boat speed and the threat of Tulane our team kept their heads in the game. These were not our conditions, but our crews did a great job of keeping the skippers focused.”

Sailing for Charleston was Paris Henken ’22 with Lucy Klempen ’24 in A-division and Marian Frances Williams ’21 with Roxanne Snyder ’23 in B-division.

No awards ceremony was conducted due to COVID restrictions, but trophies for the first place finishers in each division are awarded to Colleen O’Brien ’24 and Michaela O’Brien ’24 from Boston College, who won the Madeleine Trophy, for the low-point A-division team. They finished with 84 points, eleven points ahead of the second place pairing from Navy.

Caroline Benson ’23 and Andrea Riefkohl Gonzalez ’24 from Tulane University won the Judy Lawson Trophy, awarded to the low-point B-division team. They finished with 85 points, six points ahead of the second place pairing from Brown University.

College Sailing National Championship racing will continue with the LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race Nationals which will take place June 2nd-3rd and the Gill College Sailing Coed Dinghy Nationals will run June 7th-8th also hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy.

T2PTV filmed a show that will stream later tonight covering the racing with commentary and interviews from the two days of competition. Find the show on the T2PTV YouTube channel and here. Subscribe and ring the “bell” to be amongst the first to see the show.

Additional social media updates can be found on the College Sailing Facebook and Instagram pages.

To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the College Sailing website and TechScore pages.

Women’s Final Results (16 races):
1. College of Charleston, 201
2. Tulane University, 202
3. Boston College, 205
4. Brown University, 224
5. Stanford University, 232
6. U.S. Naval Academy, 254
7. University of Rhode Island, 261
8. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 283
9. Tufts University, 285
10. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 290
11. Georgetown University, 300
12. Old Dominion University, 337
13. University of South Florida, 339
14. George Washington University, 365
15. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 393
16. University of California Santa Barbara, 395
17. Jacksonville University, 409
18. University of Texas, 498

T2PTV filmed a show that will stream later tonight covering the racing with commentary and interviews from the two days of competition. Find the show on the T2PTV YouTube channel. Subscribe and ring the “bell” to be amongst the first to see the show.

Additional social media updates can be found on the College Sailing Facebook and Instagram pages.

To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the College Sailing website and TechScore pages.

Photo Credit: Will Keyworth, Spinsheet Magazine