School Nationals for Singlehanded titles

Singlehanded school sailing comes to a climax in the fall as both the High School and College calendars align to utilize a fleet of ILCAs for their National Championships in Norfolk, VA.

The Interscholastic Sailing Association (High School) took the first shift on October 29-30 with 18 competitors in the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 divisions. Both fleets (no gender designation) completed the full schedule with the first day offering a gusty Northeasterly for ten races, ranging from 12-18 with a few peeks in the low 20s, while day two had eight races in a puffy Northeasterly that ranged from 6-16 knots.

The ILCA 6 fleet was dominated by Peter Barnard ’23 from Saint Ignatius College Prep (Chicago, IL), finishing with a 44 point margin over Tor Svendsen ’23 from Marin Academy (San Rafael, CA). In the ILCA 7 fleet, Robby Meek ’23 from Severn School (Severna Park, MD) was equally impressive, closing with a 45 point lead over Ben Sheppard ’23 of Brunswick School (Greenwich, CT).

The attention now turns to the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association which will host 18 women in ILCA 6s and 18 men in ILCA 7s for its 2022 Singlehanded Nationals. Hosted by Old Dominion University on November 5-6, the racing area will be the Elizabeth River west of the campus near the mouth of the Lafayette River.

Robby Meek (left) and Peter Barnard