2013 ICSA/APS Team Race Nationals Preview; Changed Regatta Format!

By Airwaves Editor Martha Pitt

 With the Sperry Top-Sider Women’s National Championship wrapping up on Friday, the APS Team Race Championship is just around the corner, spanning the three days of Memorial Day weekend. Over a span of five weeks earlier in the spring, fourteen teams from the seven college sailing conferences bested their conference rivals to qualify for the opportunity to compete in the event.  Historically, the event has started with the teams seeded into two separate qualifying round robins to determine the top eight teams, but earlier this week the ICSA Board and the Competition Committee decided that the qualifying round would instead be a full fourteen team round robin to ensure that every team had a fair shot at the top eight.  This way, all of the teams compete at least once, and all scores are able to carry through the event. The top eight teams from this group will then sail another round robin to determine the top four teams to sail in a final single round robin to decide the champions.

OVERVIEW:

Qualifying Round: 14 Teams Round Robin, determines places 9-14

Gold Fleet Round: Top 8 Teams Round Robin, determines places 5-8

Championship Fleet Round: Top 4 Teams Round Robin, determines places 1-4

All single round robins; scores from all rounds count in final points.

Though there are the obvious team racing powerhouses who have been successful at inter-conference team race regattas all season, we will also be seeing a few teams from some of the smaller conferences for the first time. The pressure of nationals can mix up the field a bit, so no team is counted out – usually strong teams have been known to crumble, while sleeper teams can come out of the woodwork. According to MIT Coach Matt Cohen, the strong performances at the national championship generally come from the teams who have the most depth and strongest team unity, but also those who have had the best practices leading up to the championship. I haven’t been following the practice schedules of each of the qualifying teams, but you can be sure that they all have been working hard and getting as much practice and high competitive exposure over the last few weeks. Many teams like St. Mary’s and Roger Williams have been known to call in some talented alumni and well-seasoned team racers to practice and push the team through the post-season. The last team racing that we saw was the first weekend in May, and a lot can change in that time for some of these late-blooming teams this season!

PREDICTIONS:

Since practice and regular exposure to high level team racing seems to be the key to success, the teams that we haven’t seen much on the team racing circuit this spring are going to need to dig deep to beat some of these powerhouse teams in the Qualifying Round. University of Hawaii has definitely become a strong team and has the speed and skills to take away some wins from some of the hot-shot teams, but the disadvantage of not being able to compete at many of the big inter-conference regattas will prove to be a challenge for them in the qualifying round. Texas A&M University of Galveston and the University of Washington will have a similar struggle but they have surely been working hard to get up to speed and may have a trick or two up their sleeves. 

There are a few teams that will need to fight hard for a spot in the top eight. University of Wisconsin is a team that has pulled out some great performances in recent years to knock some big-name teams out of the top eight for a spot of their own in the Gold Fleet, but they will have to sail better than they have all season to make that happen this year. Hobart and William Smith will certainly be in the hunt for a spot in the Gold Fleet, but they have not been as strong this year as they have in past years, and will need to put all of the pieces together to push past some teams into the top eight. Navy has been gradually finding their speed throughout the season and may be ready to turn it on to make the top eight group, but they will have to make it past some other heavy hitters. The Midshipmen are a disciplined team racing team, however, so should never be counted out. Roger Williams University has had a few bumps in the road throughout the spring season, but have surely been pushing themselves and each other to train over the past few weeks in preparation to make the top eight, and hopefully for them, the top four. The Hawks kept things interesting at the Fowle Trophy, and senior Alec Anderson brings the experience to the table for this young team.  Their speed in FJs should make a big difference down in Florida. 

The aforementioned teams will have a tough time taking a Gold Fleet spot away from any of the following teams, and any of these could be in contention for the championship title. Yale and St. Mary’s both have a long tradition of strong team racing and should never be counted out of the Championship Round, but both have proven that they aren’t invincible and have missed out on some big opportunities earlier in the season. Those adverse experiences, however, may make them even hungrier and stronger this time around and may help to push them to into the top group.  Despite their struggles at the NEISA Champs, Yale is Tufts Coach Ken Legler’s top pick from the New England group.  Cohen also put these guys in the top three coming out of the event, with a very good squad and some excellent crews. Georgetown has a very strong team lead by 2012 College Sailor of the Year Chris Barnard, and has remained strong after their early qualifying win at the Prosser Cup back in April. The Hoyas are definitely contenders for a spot in the top four and for the title if they can keep sailing as they have been all spring.  But as Legler points out, Georgetown, along with St. Mary’s, does not have the depth that they have had in past years, though both do surely benefit from a long and busy season of training and regattas. We haven’t seen the College of Charleston team as much as usual this spring on the team racing course, but as defending title champions with a squad of fast sailors, the Cougars dominated their conference champs and are sure to be in contention for a top spot in the final round. Though they lost a few key members from last year’s nationals roster, they have some great new speed and young talent that could make the difference. Brown has been picking up the pace all season and proved themselves by winning the very competitive NEISA qualifier with an experienced team of juniors and seniors. No doubt that the Bears will come out strong in the Qualifying Round and make the Gold Fleet, but they will definitely be competing with local rivals Boston College for a spot in the top four.  BC has a young team with not as much team racing experience as some of the more veteran teams, but with the pure speed that they bring to the race course, they certainly are capable of winning races and have proven that time and time again this spring. The experience of the team comes from the crews who will surely be a key factor in the Eagles’ success. Finally, few could doubt the pure success of Stanford this season. The Cardinal went undefeated at their conference champs, have dominated many of the spring team race events with a number of different teams and boat combinations, and have a large core group of talented sailors who have been practicing together and building momentum for a few years! If Stanford can look past the pressures of coming in on top and just sail the way that they know how, they will surely be a tough team to beat in the f
inal round for the championship title.

 So there you have it: fourteen teams, each starting racing tomorrow with an equal shot at the national title! Over the course of the three days, the field of competition will be weeded down to the top four teams in the country, and by the afternoon on Memorial Day, ICSA will have its 2013 APS Team Racing National Champions.

COMPETING TEAMS:

Georgetown

St. Mary’s 

Navy

Hobart & William Smith

Brown

Boston College

Roger Williams

Yale

Stanford

University of Hawaii

College of Charleston

University of Wisconsin

University of Washington

Texas A&M University of Galveston

EVENT LINK: https://2013nationals.collegesailing.org/aps-team-race-championship/