Georgetown Wins College Coed Nationals

San Diego, CA (June 3, 2016) – The final day of the Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship would complete the spring college sailing national championship season, and the third nationals would prove to be the most dramatic. With four schools having a legitimate chance at the title, and a temperamental San Diego Bay providing the landscape, Georgetown University would hold on to their tenuous lead for the win.

The sailors hit the water on time and racing began around 10:30 a.m. With full sun and temperatures in the 70s, the weather offered a great beach day but tough sailing in west-northwest winds of just 5-7 knots. In the afternoon, with just two B Division races to go, the winds lightened and shifted ninety degrees to the left, effectively erasing whatever the teams knew for the most vital races of the day.

Going into the final race, Georgetown held a seven point lead, but with Boston College, Coast Guard, and Yale tied in second, there remained the opportunity for anything to happen.

“My nerves are frayed,” says Mike Callahan, head coach for Georgetown. “Today was incredibly stressful and luckily my assistant coach Janel [Zarkowsky] was fantastic and did a good job staying calm. We sent our B-division boat out for the last race and by design did not tell them the point spread – we wanted them to just have a good race – so when they crossed the finish line they didn’t even know that we had won. It hasn’t totally set in yet, but we are so happy to win this event and everyone sailed really well.”

While Coast Guard ran away with the final race win, Georgetown finished in third place to secure the title. A fifth for Yale dropped them to third overall, while a 14th from Boston College landed them in fourth overall.

Georgetown celebrating the win.

“This event was definitely challenging,” said Georgetown’s Nevin Snow, who was sailing in his hometown. “But that will always be the case with Nationals, it’s about who can execute and string together the races, and we all stuck together as a team.”

Sailing for Georgetown was Snow ’16 and Meaghan MacRae ’18 in A-division and Sean Golden ’16 with Isabelle Ruiz De Luzuriaga ’16 and Campbell D’Eliscu ’19 in B-division.

U.S. Coast Guard Academy moved up from fourth place after yesterday’s racing. They finished four points ahead of third place overall and won the Oxford University Trophy. This is the second year in a row that they have finished second at this regatta.

The Oxford University Trophy is awarded to the second place team in the Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship. The Oxford University Yacht Club team and its captain Jeremy Thomas presented this trophy in 1954 on the occasion of the first of a continuing series of college regattas between British and North American teams held alternately in the United States and Great Britain every two years.

“Today was beyond stressful but extremely exciting,” says Brian Swingly, head coach for Coast Guard. “The sailors were able to focus on sailing and were very professional – we didn’t talk about scores today. This was the most competitive and toughest fleet of the year, but we tried to make it like any other day.”

A Division winners Ian Barrows ‘17
and Meredith Megarry ‘17

Sailing for Coast Guard was Avery Fanning ’16 and Robert Turley ’16 in A-division and Nikole Barnes ’17 and Anna Morin ’19 in B-division.

Leading coming into today, Yale University’s third place earned them the Metropolitan Sailing League Trophy, which was first presented in 1971. Yale had entered the championship with recent wins in 2014 and 2015.

“Today was about who could get off the line well and hold their lane,” says Bill Healy, assistant coach for Yale. “Georgetown just did it consistently better. We made a change in B-division today hoping it would push us to the top. Everyone on the team sailed really well and it was great to have Ian and Meredith win their division for the third year in a row.”

Sailing for Yale was Ian Barrows ’17 and Meredith Megarry ’17 in A-division and Nicholas Baird ’19, Joseph Kiss ’17, Charlotte Belling ’16, Isabelle Rossi De Leon ’17 and Clara Robertson ’17 in B-division.

B Division winners Augie Dale ’18
and Kaylie Gallagher ’16

The Robert Allan, Sr. and Robert Allan, Jr. Trophies are awarded to the low point “A” and “B” teams, respectively, in the Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship. Ian Barrows ‘17 and Meredith Megarry ‘17 won A-division from Yale with 119 points, eight points ahead of second place. Augie Dale ’18 and Kaylie Gallagher ’16 from Old Dominion University won B-division with 123 points, four points ahead of second place.

FINAL OVERALL RESULTS
1. Georgetown University, 257
2. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 262
3. Yale University, 266
4. Boston College, 275
5. Old Dominion University, 283
6. Stanford University, 289
7. U.S. Naval Academy, 335
8. Boston University, 335
9. University of South Florida, 338
10. College of Charleston, 348
11. Brown University, 351
12. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 353
13. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 382
14. Roger Williams University, 396
15. Connecticut College, 402
16. University of Pennsylvania, 411
17. George Washington University, 425
18. Fordham University, 448

Event details – Scoreboard – Livestream – Photos – Facebook

Second place – US Coast Guard

Third place – Yale University

Background: The Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s three spring 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 24-June 3, with schools racing Club and Collegiate FJs on San Diego Bay in San Diego, CA. The three events will be co-hosted by San Diego Yacht Club and the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference.

Report by ICSA, Scuttlebutt. Photos by Cynthia Sinclair