Coast Guard, Yale lead College Women’s Nationals

Newport, RI (May 25, 2015) – The Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s three national championships, Sperry Women’s National Semi-Final and Final Championship, LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship, and the Gill Coed Dinghy National Semi-Final and Final Championship will be held May 25-June 4 on the waters of Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay in Newport, RI.

The spring nationals begins with 28 teams vying for the Women’s title, with two days of racing on May 25-26 in the semi-final round that holds two 14-team regattas. The top nine teams from each group will then advance to the finals round – an 18-boat regatta – that takes place on the last two days of the championship, May 27-28.

The championship is being sailed in Brown University’s Z420s and Salve Regina University’s Club Flying Juniors.

The day began with temperatures in the low 70s and winds from the south-southwest. The day progressed with sun and clouds and some oscillations in the winds, but a sea breeze prevailed most of the day with stronger winds around 13-14 knots and lighter winds around 7-8 knots. By the end of the day the temperatures fell to the low 60s and winds became light from the south-southwest direction.

Racing began at 9:30 a.m. and finished up just before 6 p.m. The Eastern fleet sailed Brown’s Z420s today, A-division sailed eight races and B-division completed six races. The Western fleet sailed Salve Regina’s FJs today, A-division sailed eight races and B-division completed six races. Tomorrow the fleets will swap boats and Eastern will sail FJs and Western will sail Z420s.

“We sailed in almost identical conditions in Newport a few weeks ago, so we felt pretty comfortable today,” Brian Swingly, head coach for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy says of the conditions today. Coast Guard is leading the Eastern fleet after today’s racing.

“We got off the [starting] line well today and the speed did the rest,” Swingly says. “We felt pretty quick today and we were also comfortable in the 420s,” he says. In preparation for the rest of the event, Swingly says, they will be sure to give the sailors a chance to rest and stay fresh.

Sailing for Coast Guard is Nikole Barnes ’17 with Jennifer Lane ’15 and Devon Rohde ’15 in A-division and Dana Rohde ’18 and Hannah Herring ‘18 in B-division.

College of Charleston is only one point behind Coast Guard in second place and Georgetown University is only one point behind Charleston in third place.

Yale University is leading the Western semi-final 35 points ahead of Stanford University who is in second place and 38 points ahead of Boston College in third place.

“We were comfortable in the FJs today and had good boat speed,” Bill Healy, assistant coach of Yale University says of Yale’s sailing today. “We didn’t really struggle at the starts today and if we did at all we were back in it by the first weather mark,” he says.

“Today we were trying to learn as much as we could to take with us into the finals,” Healy says of the team’s strategy today.

Sailing for Yale is Morgan Kiss ‘15 and Natalya Doris ‘17 in A-division and Casey Klingler ‘18 and Isabelle Rossi De Leon ‘17 in B-division.

Top Nine Teams Eastern Semi-Final, Day 1:
1. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 49
2. College of Charleston, 50
3. Georgetown University, 51
4. Dartmouth College, 64
5. University of Rhode Island, 68
6. University of South Florida, 101
7. Brown University, 102
8. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 103
9. George Washington University, 111

Top Nine Teams Western Semi-Final, Day 1:
1. Yale University, 32
2. Stanford University, 67
3. Boston College, 70
4. Old Dominion University, 82
5. University of Vermont, 85
6. U.S. Naval Academy, 90
7. Bowdoin College, 92
8. Eckerd College, 93
9. Cornell University, 96

Eastern results – Western results – Nationals details

Source: ICSA media