College Sailing: Spring Season Update

Chris Klevan reports from both coasts as the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) season closes in on the three national championships – team, women’s, coed – in the spring.

The Women’s Pacific Coast Championship was held at UC San Diego (San Diego, CA) with champagne conditions providing excellent sailing. Trailing after the first day of racing, the #6 Stanford Cardinal turned it around to take home the Championship.

Stanford’s Senior, Maeve White with sophomore Meg Gerli won A-division impressively with 39 points after 15 races sailed. They really turned it on Sunday as Stanford made their move.

“It is so fun to be coaching these talented women and to see all their hard work and dedication,” said Assistant Coach, Atlantic Brugman. “Coaching the women’s team has brought back some great memories from my time in college and has made me miss sailing, especially in shifty venues. Sometimes I wish it were me going in for the next set!”

Brugman was a two-time All-American skipper for the Conn College Camels and is currently an Olympic hopeful in the 470 class.

Despite surrendering a lead, the Santa Barbara Gauchos finished second overall and secured a berth to the ICSA Women’s Semi-Final Nationals, which is ultimately the goal of the Conference Championship. With 51 points in B-Division, Senior Olivia Godfrey and Julia Downey (‘20) with Sarah Scoffone (‘19) led the effort for the Gauchos.

The University of Southern California Trojans and the University of Hawaii Rainbows claimed the final two Semi-Final spots offered by the regatta. They will join the Cardinal and the Gauchos on May 22-23 at College of Charleston.

The Thompson Trophy was held at the United States Coast Guard Academy (New London, CT) but was hosted and run by Connecticut College. Coming directly from the climactic culmination of the Team Race season, the regatta served as the transition from the Team Race season to the Fleet Race season.

The regatta was flush with talent and the extremely challenging conditions showed the many spectators who the best sailors in the nation were. The answer to that question was undoubtedly the Yale Bulldogs.

#1 Yale showcased teams of the present and of the future for both coed and women’s sailing. Seniors Ian Barrows and Clara Robertson were on fire, lining up an extremely consistent score-line throughout a regatta that was anything but. Posting only one score outside the top-7, the two finished with 51 points through 13 races, which was enough for a 20 point victory in A division.

The Freshman Louisa Nordstrom, with Isabelle Rossi De Leon (‘17) and Claire Huebner (‘18), were equally effective winning C-Division for the Bulldogs with 69 points in 13 races. The talent of Ms. Nordstrom coupled with that of Sophomore Nic Baird and a line of great crew-work, spanning a half decade with no signs of declining, makes the Yale Sailing dynasty as daunting as ever.

#11 MIT finished second overall at the regatta with 255 points, 65 points behind Yale, while #7 College of Charleston finished 3rd overall with 256 points. Trailing throughout the regatta, the MIT Engineers continued to show heart as they snuck past the cougars in the last race of the 39 race event.

The Navy Spring regatta was hosted by the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD). The home team won the event with 131 points through 15 races in each division. Junior Gary Prieto, with sophomore Ana Mier won B-Division to help bring home the victory for the #5 Navy Midshipmen.

The rivalry among Mid Atlantic schools continues to heat up as #2 Georgetown finished second overall, with 135 points, only four points behind the midshipmen. Sophomore Campbell D’Eliscu won A-division with 74 points. The Fordham Rams finished 3rd overall with 180 total points.

Background: 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. There are seven Conferences that schedule and administer regattas within their established geographic regions, with ICSA hosting two national championships in the fall (singlehanded, match racing) and three national championships in the spring (team, women’s, coed). collegesailing.org