ICSA News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 25, 2015
Contact: Jen Vandemoer Mitchell | Toile à Voile for ICSA | media@collegesailing.org | 763-234-8286 m.
Photo Credit: Photos to follow from Rob Migliaccio

SPERRY WOMEN’S SEMI-FINAL CHAMPIONSHIP, DAY ONE

NEWPORT, R.I. (May 25, 2015) – The 2015 Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s series of National Championships began today on Narragansett Bay in Newport, R.I. with the Sperry Women’s Semi-Final Championship co-hosted by Brown University, Salve Regina University and New York Yacht Club. The semi-finals are the precursor and qualifying event for the Sperry Women’s National Championship Finals, which will begin Wednesday, May 27 at 9:30 a.m.

The semi-finals are divided into two fleets, an Eastern and Western semi-final, each with fourteen teams from across the nation. The top nine teams from each fleet will advance to the finals on Wednesday. The competitors are racing in FJs and Z420s on windward-leeward three and four leg courses.

The day began with temperatures in the low 70s and winds from the south-southwest. The day progressed with sun and clouds and some oscillations in the winds, but a sea breeze prevailed most of the day with stronger winds around 13-14 knots and lighter winds around 7-8 knots. By the end of the day the temperatures fell to the low 60s and winds became light from the south-southwest direction.

Racing began at 9:30 a.m. and finished up just before 6 p.m. The Eastern fleet sailed Brown’s Z420s today, A-division sailed eight races and B-division completed six races. The Western fleet sailed Salve Regina’s FJs today, A-division sailed eight races and B-division completed six races. Tomorrow the fleets will swap boats and Eastern will sail FJs and Western will sail Z420s.

“We sailed in almost identical conditions in Newport a few weeks ago, so we felt pretty comfortable today,” Brian Swingly, head coach for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy says of the conditions today. Coast Guard is leading the Eastern fleet after today’s racing.

“We got off the [starting] line well today and the speed did the rest,” Swingly says. “We felt pretty quick today and we were also comfortable in the 420s,” he says. In preparation for the rest of the event, Swingly says, they will be sure to give the sailors a chance to rest and stay fresh.

Sailing for Coast Guard is Nikole Barnes ’17 with Jennifer Lane ’15 and Devon Rohde ’15 in A-division and Dana Rohde ’18 and Hannah Herring ‘18 in B-division.

College of Charleston is only one point behind Coast Guard in second place and Georgetown University is only one point behind Charleston in third place.

Yale University is leading the Western semi-final 35 points ahead of Stanford University who is in second place and 38 points ahead of Boston College in third place.

“We were comfortable in the FJs today and had good boat speed,” Bill Healy, assistant coach of Yale University says of Yale’s sailing today. “We didn’t really struggle at the starts today and if we did at all we were back in it by the first weather mark,” he says.

“Today we were trying to learn as much as we could to take with us into the finals,” Healy says of the team’s strategy today.

Sailing for Yale is Morgan Kiss ‘15 and Natalya Doris ‘17 in A-division and Casey Klingler ‘18 and Isabelle Rossi De Leon ‘17 in B-division.

The scores are close for the top nine teams in both fleets and the racing continues tomorrow starting at 9:30 a.m. Tomorrow will be the last day of racing in the semi-finals portion of the championship. No race will start after 5 p.m.tomorrow. The top 18 teams will be determined and they will advance to the finals on Wednesday. A dinner and competitors meeting for the finals is scheduled tomorrow evening at Salve Regina at 6:30 p.m.

Top Nine Teams Eastern Semi-Final, Day 1:
1. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 49
2. College of Charleston, 50
3. Georgetown University, 51
4. Dartmouth College, 64
5. University of Rhode Island, 68
6. University of South Florida, 101
7. Brown University, 102
8. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 103
9. George Washington University, 111

Top Nine Teams Western Semi-Final, Day 1:
1. Yale University, 32
2. Stanford University, 67
3. Boston College, 70
4. Old Dominion University, 82
5. University of Vermont, 85
6. U.S. Naval Academy, 90
7. Bowdoin College, 92
8. Eckerd College, 93
9. Cornell University, 96

To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the event website: http://2015nationals.collegesailing.org/.

A video feed, sponsored by LaserPerformance will be available for some portions of the Sperry Women’s Nationals and LaserPerformance Team Race Nationals and live coverage and social media updates from collegesailing.org will also be available throughout the events. Gary Jobson and Chris Love Productions will be filming portions of the Gill Coed Nationals for an ESPNU segment, which will first air on Friday, July 10 at 5:30 pm ET.

The 2015 College Sailing National Championships are co-hosted by: New York Yacht Club, Brown University and Salve Regina University.

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. Visit www.collegesailing.org to learn more.

The ICSA sponsors and partners through the 2014-2015 are: LaserPerformance (www.laserperformance.com), title sponsor of “LaserPerformance Men’s and Women’s Singlehanded National Championship”, title sponsor of “LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race National Championship” and Official Boat Supplier of the ICSA Spring National Championships. Sperry (www.sperry.com), title sponsor of the “Sperry College Sailing Women’s National Championship”. Gill North American (gillna.com), title sponsor of “The Gill College Sailing National Championship”. Quantum Sail Design Group (www.quantumsails.com), official sponsor of the “Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year”. Marlow Ropes (www.marlowropes.com), presenting Sponsor of the “Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year Award” and “Official Rope of College Sailing”. Beneteau (www.beneteau.com), “Sponsor of the College Sailing Scoreboard”. North Sails (www.northsails.com), “Supporting Sponsor of the ICSA National Championships”. US Sailing (www.ussailing.org), “Supporting Sponsor of the ICSA National Championship Semi-finals”.