NEISA News


Gill Coed National Championship Finals, Day 1


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2015
Contact: Jen Vandemoer Mitchell | Toile à Voile for ICSA | media@collegesailing.org | 763-234-8286 m.
Photo credit: Rob Migliaccio
GILL COED NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS, DAY ONE

NEWPORT, R.I. (June 3, 2015) – The Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship continued today co-hosted by Brown University, Salve Regina University and New York Yacht Club. The teams sail out of the Sail Newport Waterfront Center at Fort Adams and compete on Narragansett Bay. The top eighteen collegiate teams in the nation advanced from the previous two days of racing in the semi-finals to make it to the finals event, which began today.

Racing got underway on time at 9:30 a.m., but once the sailors hit the water the race officials called for a wind delay. Eventually the racing began and A-division was able to complete their first race in a light northerly breeze before it died and the officials called for another wind delay. The teams went in for lunch to wait for the wind to fill steadily. By around 1 p.m. the competitors were back on the water racing. A nice southerly built and brought steady 12-13 knots of breeze in the afternoon.

The temperatures were warmer than yesterday in the low 60s and although the wind was still a bit chilly, the sun was out. The race committee was able to run races until about 6 p.m.

A-division sailed in FJs and B-division sailed in Z420s. Both divisions were able to complete nine races on windward leeward courses with four legs.

Yale University is leading after today’s racing with a 19-point gap between them and U.S. Coast Guard Academy in second place. In third place is College of Charleston 22-points behind Coast Guard.

Yale was able to sail consistently today to stay on top of the leader board. In A-division they have a 20-point lead over Coast Guard and they are one point behind Coast Guard who is leading in B-division.

“Both our A and B-division teams did a good job of staying in phase and being patient with relying on what they saw on the course,” Bill Healy says, assistant coach for Yale.

“We will look to do the same as we have been doing throughout these events, which is to take it one race at a time and not focus too much on the future,” Healy says.

Sailing for Yale is: Graham Landy '15 with Charlotte Belling ’16 and Katherine Gaumond '15 in A-division and Ian Barrows '17 with Meredith Megarry ’17 and Clara Robertson ’17 in B-division.

Coast Guard also had a consistent day on the racecourse with only a few races out of the top ten.

“We were really speedy, which allowed us to connect the dots in the shifts today,” says Brian Swingly, head coach for Coast Guard. Despite the tricky current running across the course that made starting difficult at times, Coast Guard capitalized on it with their boat speed.

“We know we are only half way through the regatta and there is a lot of work to do,” Swingly says. “We won’t change a thing for tomorrow, we will let our speed take us through one race at a time,” he says.

Sailing for Coast Guard is: Avery Fanning '16 with Hannah Herring '18 and Robert Turley '16 in A-division and Nikole Barnes '17 with Jennifer Lane '15 and Andrew Britton '16 in B-division.

College of Charleston is in third place after racing today with the teams behind them in hot pursuit and all very close together in points.

Sailing for Charleston is: Jake Reynolds '16 with Alicia Blumenthal '15 in A-division and Charles Rees '16 with Tierney Driscoll '15 and Emily Stuart '16 in B-division.

After racing today the competitors enjoyed a North Sails Sponsored Comanche Tour (100’ Maxi) and BBQ with North Sails President Ken Read at the Newport Shipyard.

Racing is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. No race can begin after 5 p.m.

An awards ceremony is scheduled to take place after racing at New York Yacht Club. Awards for podium finishers in this event will be presented, as well as the Everett Morris Memorial Trophy for College Sailor of the Year, the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the best overall performing team and the Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award.

Top Nine Teams, Finals Day 1 (pending protest results)
1. Yale University, 93
2. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 112
3. College of Charleston, 134
4. USMMA Kings Point, 152
5. Old Dominion University, 154
6. Roger Williams University, 155
7. Georgetown University, 159
8. U.S. Naval Academy, 164
9. Boston College, 166

To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the event website: http://2015nationals.collegesailing.org/.

Gary Jobson and Chris Love Productions are filming portions of the Gill Coed Nationals for an ESPNU segment, which will first air on Friday, July 10 at 5:30 pm ET.

The 2015 College Sailing National Championships are co-hosted by: New York Yacht Club, Brown University and Salve Regina University. The racing is run out of the Sail Newport Waterfront Center at Fort Adams.

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 sponsors and partners through the 2014-2015 are: LaserPerformance (www.laserperformance.com), title sponsor of “LaserPerformance Men’s and Women’s Singlehanded National Championship”, title sponsor of “LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race National Championship” and Official Boat Supplier of the ICSA Spring National Championships. Sperry (www.sperry.com), title sponsor of the “Sperry College Sailing Women’s National Championship”. Gill North American (gillna.com), title sponsor of “The Gill College Sailing National Championship”. Quantum Sail Design Group (www.quantumsails.com), official sponsor of the “Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year”. Marlow Ropes (www.marlowropes.com), presenting Sponsor of the “Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year Award” and “Official Rope of College Sailing”. Beneteau (www.beneteau.com), “Sponsor of the College Sailing Scoreboard”. North Sails (www.northsails.com), “Supporting Sponsor of the ICSA National Championships”. US Sailing (www.ussailing.org), “Supporting Sponsor of the ICSA National Championship Semi-finals”.