Top 18 advance to College Coed Finals

Norfolk, VA (May 30, 2018) – Today was the second and final day of the Semifinals for the Gill Coed National Championship, hosted by Old Dominion University. The top 36 college sailing teams in the nation have been sailing on the Elizabeth River in front of the Old Dominion Sailing Center, for 18 spots in the championship Finals, which begin tomorrow, Thursday, May 31.

The top nine teams from each of the Semifinal fleets make up the 18 teams who qualify to compete in the finals.

Today racing started around 10:30 a.m. The sailors were delayed on land while the race committee waited for wind to fill in. A light northerly breeze came in under cloudy skies. The temperature stayed around 80 degrees. The competitors are sailing in FJs and Z420s on windward-leeward courses with 3 and 4 and legs.

The race officials got off as many races as they could with the conditions and time restriction. The conditions improved as the day progressed with the wind strong enough for hiking at times. By the end of the day the wind shifted more east-northeast. The competitors completed 5 races in both fleets for a total of nine races in the regatta.

In the Eastern fleet Hobart and William Smith Colleges held onto their lead from yesterday, finishing with 71 points. Roger Williams moved up to second from third place yesterday with 98 points. Yale University finished in third just one point behind Yale. Notable in the Eastern fleet is that the University of California Santa Barbara moved up to ninth place today to qualify for the finals.

Sailing for Hobart and William Smith Colleges is: Greiner Hobbs ’18 with Lindsey Kloc ’19 in A-division and Hector Guzman ’20 with Maya Weber ’20 in B-division.

In the Western fleet Boston College finished in first place, moving up from third place yesterday with 85 points. Dartmouth College finished in second only one point behind Boston College. The University of South Florida finished third with 96 points.

“It was difficult at times to discern how long a shift would hold, like we have seen on the course before in these events,” says Greg Wilkinson, head coach for Boston College. “We aimed to start clean and sail fast, which we did.

“Tomorrow is a brand new regatta. We have been practicing a lot and hope to perform. We have a strong team, but there are also a lot of strong teams here. This is what our sailors have worked for and it is great to go out and compete against the best college sailors.”

Sailing for Boston College is: Charles Sinks ’18, Sophia Reineke ’21, Alice Bohan ’18 and Lily McGrath ’18 in A-division and Wade Waddell ’19, Isabella Loosbrock ’19, Katharine Bowman ’20 and Emma Perry ’19 in B-division.

The scoreboard is wiped clean for the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championship Finals tomorrow. The first warning for racing is at 10 a.m. The top 18 teams will be competing for the national title and the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy for the next two days.

Top Nine Eastern Semifinals Final Results (9 races):
1. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 71
2. Roger Williams University, 98
3. Yale University, 99
4. U.S. Naval Academy, 109
5. College of Charleston, 114
6. Old Dominion University, 121
7. George Washington University, 127
8. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 153
9. University of California Santa Barbara, 173

Top Nine Western Semifinal Final Results (9 races):
1. Boston College, 85
2. Dartmouth College, 86
3. University of South Florida, 96
4. Georgetown University, 103
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 113
6. Stanford University, 120
7. University of Rhode Island, 127
8. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 134
9. Eckerd College, 158

Event details – Eastern Semifinals – Western Semifinals – Facebook

Follow the events live via the regatta app from US Sailing.

Background: The 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

2018 Spring Nationals – Norfolk, VA
5/22-25 – Women’s National Championship
5/26-28 – Team Race National Championship
5/29-6/1 – Coed National Championship

Source: Jennifer Mitchell |Toile à Voile for ICSA