Feature

Nic Baird earns Sailor of the Year

Published on May 31st, 2019

Newport, RI (May 31, 2019) – At an awards ceremony following racing for the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championship, the honors for the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year, Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award sponsored by US Sailing and the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the Best Overall Team were presented.

The names of the winners will be added to the ICSA Hall of Fame display located in the Robert Crown Center at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

The Everett B. Morris Trophy is awarded annually to the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year for outstanding performance at the highest level of sailing in the collegiate year. The trophy is named in memory of a distinguished journalist who spent more than 30 years, as a yachting writer and editor.

This year there were three finalists: Nicholas Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Yale University ’19; Augie Dale (Pewaukee, Wis.), College of Charleston ’19; and Chris Williford (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Dartmouth College ’19. The winner, calculated by the numbers, was Nicholas Baird.

Baird’s season included finishing 4th at the LaserPerformance Men’s Singlehanded National Championship, 1st in the LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship, placed second overall and in A-division at this Gill Coed Championship, and won many other intersectional and team race regattas throughout the regular season.

“Nic sailed well all year,” says Bill Healy, associate head coach for Yale. “It was great to see him get this award. He’s the kind of guy who is on top of everything and leaves no stone unturned. He’s a great student academically, but also of the sport.”

Nic Baird, Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year, Everett B. Morris Trophy

In Baird’s award ceremony comments he exclaimed how much fun college sailing is and all of the good friends he has made on the water.

“Putting me in this group of finalists with Augie and Chris – they are both awesome and it felt like a toss of a coin to see who among us would win the award,” said Baird. “They both sailed really well this year too.

“My Dad got me into sailing and my whole life has been sailing,” shared Baird, who was born in Newport, R.I. while his Dad was training for the America’s Cup in Newport, but grew up sailing in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Baird graduated from Yale this spring with a double major in political science and history and plans to sail IC37s this summer.

The Fowle Trophy honors the late Graduate Secretary of the New England District and Executive Vice President of the ICYRA/NA. Len served in both posts from their creation until his death in 1973 and his devotion to college sailing is without peer. College sailing today had its very beginnings in the organizational ability and personal drive of this one man.

This trophy is awarded to the team of the College or University with the greatest number of Fowle Trophy Points.

The points are determined using the composite results of the Women’s Singlehanded, Men’s Singlehanded, Intermediate Match Race, Women’s Dinghy Semifinals/Finals, Team Race, and Coed Dinghy Semifinals/Final Championship Regattas.

Each team shall receive points toward the Fowle Trophy Award based on its finishing place in each of the events in the composite. Except that only the best finishing place in the Women’s Singlehanded and Men’s Singlehanded Championships shall be used to determine the points for each school in those events.

Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for best overall collegiate team, Yale University

The winner of the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for best overall collegiate team is Yale University, who had an impressive record especially in the spring season.

Liam McCarthy, Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award

The Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award is awarded annually to the Sportsman of the Year. The trophy honors Robert Hobbs (MIT ’64), past Executive Vice President of ICSA, past President of U.S. Sailing (1992-1994), and former chair of the U.S. Sailing Olympic Committee.

This year’s finalists were Carter Cameron (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.), College of Charleston ‘19; Liam McCarthy (St. Petersburg, Fla.), St. Mary’s College of Maryland ‘19; and Chris Williford (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Dartmouth College ‘19. This year’s winner is Liam McCarthy.

“My coaches, Adam Werblow and Bill Ward, tried to teach me early on that sailing is even better when you’re having fun,” says McCarthy, “and I finally caught on.”

One of McCarthy’s fellow competitors describes him as a true sportsman and a force of positivity on his team.

The Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) also announced the 2018-19 All-American Crews, Coed Skippers and Honorable Mentions (the Women’s All-Americans were announced at the Sperry College Sailing Women’s Nationals awards ceremony).

The names of the winners will be added to the ICSA Hall of Fame displayed at the Robert Crown Center at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

A committee of representatives from the seven conferences in the ICSA selects the ICSA All-America Team. This year’s committee is MAISA: Ian Burman (chair), Brian Clancy; MCSA: Geoff Pedrick; NEISA: David Thompson, Stan Schreyer; NWICSA: Scott Wilson; PCCSC: Blaine Pedlow; SAISA: Ward Cromwell; and SEISA: Charles Higgins.

To select an All-American skipper, the committee evaluates a competitor based on their competitive record in inter-conference competition as well as conference and national championships. The committee analyzes how this record compares to fellow competitors, the quality of the competition the record was achieved in, and results achieved competing with different crews, the span of the record over the fall and spring seasons, and how the record compares to previous All-American winners in past years.

For All-American crew selections, the committee uses criteria similar to skipper selection, but also considers: demonstrated leadership (may consider seniority), outstanding body mechanics and boat handling skills as well as proven ability to improve the results of the skipper(s) with whom he or she sails.

The committee selects up to 18 Coed All-American skippers and additional Honorable Mentions, together totaling no more than 25 and up to 20 All-American Crews and additional Honorable Mentions together totaling not more than 30 honorees. The committee is not obligated to select the maximum number of honorees.

Here are the names of the All-American Coed Skippers, Crews and Honorable Mentions.

ICSA Honorable Mention Coed All-American Skippers

ICSA Honorable Mention Coed All-American Skippers:
Ragna Agerup (Oslo, Norway), Brown University ’20
Eli Burnes (Boston, Mass.), Harvard University ‘21
Conner Harding (Naples, Fla.), Roger Williams ‘19
Nicolas Hernandez (Venice, Fla.), Yale University ‘19
Andy Reiter (San Diego, Calif.), Georgetown University ‘19
Wiley Rogers (Kemah, Texas), Stanford University ‘22
Jacob Rosenberg (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Stanford University ‘20
Romain Screve (Ross, Calif.), Stanford University ‘21
Liam McCarthy (St. Petersburg, Fla.), St. Mary’s College of Maryland ‘19
Javier de Urdanibia (Barcelona, Spain), Boston University ‘21
Leo Boucher (Annapolis, Md.), St. Mary’s College of Maryland ‘22
Jack McGraw (San Diego, Calif.), Dartmouth College ‘20

ICSA Coed All-American Skippers

ICSA Coed All-American Skippers:
Augie Dale (Pewaukee, Wis.), College of Charleston ‘19
Nicholas Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Yale University ‘19
Hector Guzman (Huixquilucan, Mexico), Hobart and William Smith Colleges ‘20
Shawn Harvey (Miami, Fla.), Yale University ‘21
Joseph Hermus (Bellport, N.Y.), U.S. Naval Academy ‘22
Matthew Kaplan (Larchmont, N.Y.), Bowdoin College ‘19
Parker Loftus (Chatham, Mass.), U.S. Naval Academy ‘20
William Logue (Cos Cobb, Conn.), Georgetown University ‘20
Charles Miller (San Diego, Calif.), Hobart and William Smith Colleges ‘19
Sean Segerblom (Costa Mesa, Calif.), Georgetown University ‘20
Patrick Shanahan (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Brown University ‘19
Wade Waddell (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Boston College ‘19
Christopher Williford (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Dartmouth College ‘19

ICSA Honorable Mention All-American Crews

ICSA Honorable Mention All-American Crews:
Katharine Bowman (San Diego, Calif.), Boston College ‘20
Darby Capellin (Bradenton, Fla.), University of South Florida ‘19
Emily Croteau (Winchester, Mass.), Boston University ‘19
Maxine de Havenon (East Hampton, N.Y.), Brown University ‘19
Alexandra Fayer (San Diego, Calif.), George Washington University ‘19
Claudia Loiacono (Miami, Fla.), Yale University ‘21
Diana Otis (Severna Park, Md.), Cornell University ‘19
Lexi Pline (Annapolis, Md.), Boston University ‘19
Tiffany Xi (Foster City, Calif.), Massachusetts Institute of Technology ‘19

ICSA All-American Crews

ICSA All-American Crews:
Jennifer Agell (Huntington, N.Y.), Roger Williams University ‘19
Kathryn Booker (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Stanford University ‘19
Annabel Carrington (White Stone, Va.), College of Charleston ‘19
Paige Clarke (St. John, USVI), Dartmouth College ‘20
Lena Episalla (Rock Hill, N.Y.), Harvard University ‘19
Tara Ferraris (Orient, N.Y.), Boston College ‘19
Rebecca Fung (Rye, N.Y.), Georgetown University ‘19
Lindsey Kloc (Barrington, R.I.), Hobart and William Smith Colleges ‘19
Louisa Lindgren (New York, N.Y.), Bowdoin College ‘19
Sonia Lingos-Utley (Yarmouth, Mass.), Yale University ‘21
Katherine Lounsbury (Jensen Beach, Fla.), College of Charleston ‘20
Rebecca McElvain (San Diego, Calif.), Dartmouth College ‘19
Ana Mier (San Jose, Puerto Rico), U.S. Naval Academy ‘19
Graceann Nicolosi (St. Thomas, USVI), Yale University ‘20
Emma Perry (Lexington, Mass.), Boston College ‘19
Julia Reynolds (Southport, Conn.), Brown University ‘21
Caroline Teare (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands), Georgetown University ‘21
Maya Weber (Amherst, N.Y.), Hobart and William Smith Colleges ‘20
Kira Woods (Newport Beach, Calif.), Yale University ‘19