NEISA News


Gill Coed National Championship: Finals Day One


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 5, 2014
Contact: Jen Vandemoer Mitchell | Toile à Voile for ICSA | media@collegesailing.org | 763-234-8286 m.
Photo credit: Brian Schneider/www.ebrianschneider.com
GILL COED NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: FINALS DAY ONE

St. Mary’s City, Md. (June 5, 2014) – The Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship continued today at St. Mary’s College of Maryland on the St. Mary’s River. The top eighteen collegiate teams in the nation advanced from the previous two days of competing in semi-finals to make it to the finals event today.

Racing got underway on time at 9:30 a.m. The conditions were some of the windiest this championship series has seen. The winds were 10-12 knots from the west-northwest causing whitecaps on the river. Temperatures were in the mid-70s. The winds were really shifty making for difficult racing. By the late afternoon the winds started to die and sailors were sent to shore to wait for breeze. After about an hour postponement, the race officials called the racing for the day.

A-division sailed in FJs and completed nine races and B-divison sailed in 420s and completed 10 races. The fleets sailed on trapezoid coursed in the morning and windward leeward four leg courses in the afternoon.

Yale University is leading after today’s racing with a 48-point gap between them and Tufts University, who is in second place. Yale was able to sail consistently today to stay on top of the leader board, especially in B-division, where they have a 27-point lead over the second place pairing, St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

“Zach [Leonard, Yale’s head coach] has been preaching to the team to stay consistent, sail for the pressure and stay in the lead group,” Bill Healy says, assistant coach for Yale. “Tomorrow we will aim to do the same,” he says. The prediction for tomorrow is a light northerly breeze.

Sailing for Yale is: Graham Landy ’15 with Eugenia Custo Greig ’14 and Katherine Gaumond ’15 in A-division and Ian Barrows ’17 with Amanda Salvesen ’14 and Marlena Fauer ’14 in B-division.

Tufts University finished the day in second place, six points ahead of third place. Tuft’s A-division sailors are also sailing consistently 16 points ahead of Yale’s A-division in second place.

“We are happy with how our A-division is sailing and in B-division we just had to work on starting,” says Ken Legler, head coach for Tufts. “We are trying to get off the [starting] line and use our speed,” he says.

“We are just focusing on our racing tomorrow and not looking at scores or other schools,” Legler says. Tomorrow will be the last day of racing.

Sailing for Tufts is: William Haeger ’14 with Paula Grasberger ’14 in A-division and Alejandro Ruiz-Ramon ’15 with Alexander Tong ’17 and Sam Madden ’15 in B-division.

Georgetown University is in third place after racing today with teams in hot pursuit behind them. Stanford University is just 11 points behind Georgetown followed closely by St. Mary’s and Boston College.

Sailing for Georgetown is: Nevin Snow ’16 with Katia DaSilva ’15 in A-division and Alex Post ’15 with Katie Olsen ’15 and Bettina Redway ’16 in B-division.

Racing is set to begin at 9:15 a.m. tomorrow, 15 minutes earlier than today to try and get a little extra time to race in the predicted light winds. No race can begin after 5 p.m.

An awards ceremony is scheduled to take place after racing at St. Mary’s College. Awards for podium finishers in this event will be presented, as well as the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year, the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the best overall performing team and the Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award.

To view or purchase photos from this event or the previous championships visit this gallery on photographer Brian Schneider’s website: http://www.ebrianschneider.com/gallery-collection/2014-ICSA-National-Championships/C0000zZpBRnclJuY

For full results and additional regatta information visit the event website: http://2014nationals.collegesailing.org/

Top Nine Teams, Finals Day 1
1. Yale University, 87
2. Tufts University, 135
3. Georgetown University, 141
4. Stanford University, 152
5. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 154
6. Boston College, 156
7. Old Dominion University, 160
8. Dartmouth College, 170
9. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 174

To follow live media coverage of the Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship, click on the Live Media link for the event at http://2014nationals.collegesailing.org/. Social media updates are provided daily by collegesailing.org.

Gary Jobson and Chris Love will be filming portions of the Championships for an ESPNU segment, which will air on Friday, July 11 at 7 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 12 at 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. ET and Sunday, July 13 at 8 a.m. ET. This will be the tenth time the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championships have been covered on ESPNU.

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 are: LaserPerformance (www.laserperformance.com), title sponsor of LaserPerformance Men’s and Women’s Singlehanded National Championships and Official Boat Supplier of the ICSA Spring National Championships. Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopsider.com), title sponsor of the Sperry Top-Sider / ICSA Women’s National Championship; Gill North America (www.gillna.com), title sponsor of the Gill / ICSA National Championship; Quantum Sail Design Group (www.quantumsails.com/), official sponsor of the “Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year”; Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), title Sponsor of the APS / ICSA Team Race National Championship; Marlow Ropes (www.marlowropes.com/), presenting sponsor of the “Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year Award” and Official Rope of College Sailing; US Sailing (home.ussailing.org), supporting sponsor of the ICSA National Championships.