Top 18 Advance to College Coed National Finals

San Diego, CA (June 1, 2016) – The Gill Coed National Championship Semi-Finals concluded today which saw the top 36 college sailing teams in the nation competing on San Diego Bay. Teams were divided into two fleets of 18 teams, Eastern and Western Semi-Final groups, completing 12 races to determine the top nine from each fleet that advance to the Finals on June 2-3.

Racing started on time around 10:30 am in a light southwesterly under grey skies that kept temperatures in the mid 60s. The teams were sailing FJs on 4-leg windward-leeward courses in 5-10 knots, adding six races to yesterday’s total before the 5pm deadline required racing to conclude.

In the Eastern fleet, Old Dominion University held onto their lead from yesterday, beating St. Mary’s College of Maryland on countback. The U.S. Naval Academy moved up the standings today to finish in third place.

“We used the same game plan today that we did yesterday,” says Mitch Brindley head coach for Old Dominion, “And that was to keep it nice and simple. It was straightforward sailing today and we were able to give our starters a break and put some other sailors in. We will plan to start fresh tomorrow.”

Sailing for Old Dominion is Esteban Forrer ’16, Gabriel Smith ’17, Joseph David ’16, and Katelyn Talley ’16 in A-division and Augie Dale ’18, Kaylie Gallagher ’16, Jeremy Herrin ’18 and Grace Mason ’16 in B-division.

In the Western fleet, Coast Guard was also able to hold onto their lead from yesterday and Georgetown University held onto second, while College of Charleston moved up to third place today.

“Semi-Final is kind of about surviving and working out the kinks to advance through,” says Mike Callahan, head coach for Georgetown University. “We tried a few sailors in B-division to prepare for finals today and learn about the conditions. Tomorrow’s racing will be twice as hard and it may the hardest this event has been in three or four years. We will try and perform and limit the double digit finishes.”

Sailing for Georgetown is Nevin Snow ’16 and Meaghan MacRae ’18 in A-division and Sean Golden ’16, Campbell D’Eliscu ’19, Roger Dorr ’18, Isabelle Ruiz De Luzuriaga ’16 and Bettina Redway ’16 in B-division.

“The different wind direction today had us studying it closely,” says Brian Swingly, head coach for Coast Guard. “We executed well today and studied all of the boats to try and keep our edge. There are 36 new races tomorrow and we will take it one at a time.”

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

The US Sailing Grit Award is awarded to the teams who qualified for the finals in ninth place in each Semi-Final fleet; the recipients today were Fordham University in the Eastern fleet and the University of Pennsylvania in the Western fleet. Pennsylvania dropped into ninth after finishing yesterday in eighth, but Fordham was not qualifying yesterday, so they sailed their way into ninth with some single digit finishes today.

Just missing the cut in the Eastern fleet was Tufts University and in the Western fleet it was Dartmouth University.

The scoreboard is wiped clean for the Gill Coed National Championship Finals tomorrow. The first warning for racing is at 10:30 am. The top 18 teams will be competing for the national title and the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy (celebrating its 80th anniversary) over the next two days. Results here.

Final Nine Teams Eastern Semifinal, Day 2:
1. Old Dominion University, 118
2. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 118
3. U.S. Naval Academy, 141
4. Boston College, 149
5. Stanford University, 150
6. Yale University, 153
7. University of South Florida, 156
8. Boston University, 199
9. Fordham University, 214

Final Nine Teams Western Semifinal, Day 2:
1. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 93
2. Georgetown University, 136
3. College of Charleston, 151
4. Brown University, 160
5. Roger Williams University, 164
6. Connecticut College, 166*
7. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 166
8. George Washington University, 170
9. University of Pennsylvania, 185

Event details – Eastern Semi-Final results – Western Semi-Final results – Photos – Facebook

Online livestream coverage begins June 2….click here.

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 ISCA. Photo by Cynthia Sinclair Photography and Stacy Childers Photography & House of Style Studio.