ICSA News


PCIYRA 60th Anniversary


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Michael Segerblom, US Sailing Center - Long Beach, CA

562-433-7939 Phone 562-433-3668 Fax

 

The past, present and future of collegiate sailing met in Long Beach, California, as participants in the first-ever collegiate sailing championship in California history met to celebrate the 60th anniversary of that regatta.

Held in conjunction with two collegiate and one high-school single-handed championship regattas, an informal reception held on Saturday, September 22, at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach remembered the regatta that was the founding act of the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association (PCIYRA), the organizing authority for college sailboat racing in California in Hawaii.

The first collegiate sailing championship held in California was sailed December of 1941. Three-member teams from several western colleges and universities sailed the event, held in Newport Beach, California. The winning team was from Cal Tech, and representing that team at the reception was Barton Beek, a Corona del Mar lawyer and lifelong Star sailor. Also on hand was most of the UCLA team from the 1941 regatta: Bob Gales, wife (then sweetheart) DeeDe (Yocum) and Bob's brother Don Gales, all of San Diego.

But the star of the show was Bob Allan, acknowledged as the "founding father" of collegiate sailing in California. Bob represented Stanford University in the 1941 regatta, sailing with his wife (then sweetheart) Harriet (Spicer), who was also on hand for the reception. In addition to sailing in the 1941 regatta--held just two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor that plunged the US into World War II--Bob was its organizer and driving force in its completion. He went on organize the first post-war collegiate sailing championship in California in 1945 and was instrumental in founding the sailing teams at the University of Southern California, the University of California at Irvine and the PCIYRA itself. Bob, retired president of Litton Industries, and Harriet divide their time between homes in Carmel and Palm Desert.

The reception was also a chance to honor the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association (PCISA), the organization that oversees high-school sailing in California. PCISA founder Bill Wakeman was among the dozens of supporters and alumni of high-school sailing in attendance. The US Sailing Center in Long Beach hosts both high-school and collegiate sailing teams and regattas.

If the alumni of the 1941 regatta represented the "past" of collegiate sailing, the "present" was represented by the participants in the PCIYRA Collegiate Women's and Men's Single-handed Championship Regattas. The two regattas were qualifiers for the North American collegiate single-handed championships for both men and women, with the top two from each event qualifying for the NA's to be sailed at Old Dominion in Norfolk, VA, in November. The top two men were David Kenny of Stanford and Bryan Lake of the University of Hawaii; the top two women were Lindsay Buchan of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Ashley Frush of Stanford. For complete results see www.collegesailing.org/pciyra.

The "future" of collegiate sailing was represented by participants in the PCISA Single-handed Championships for Laser Radials, also sailed at the US Sailing Center the same weekend. The top three finishers in this regatta qualified for the national championships to be sailed at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD; they were Mikee Andersen-Mitterling, Coronado High School, Coronado; Scott De Curtis, Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach; and Greg Helias, Palisades High School, Pacific Palisades. For complete results see www.pcisa.org.

The United States Sailing Center - Long Beach, CA is operated by the Pacific Coast Sailing Foundation (PCSF) and served as the administrative head quarters for the PCIYRA.  Operating one of the largest High School Sailing Programs in the U.S. and supporting the growth and development of Olympic, College, High School, Disabled, At-Risk and Community Sailing is the primary mission of the PCSF and U.S. Sailing Center.

For additional information contact Executive Director, Michael Segerblom at

United States Sailing Center
5489 East Ocean Blvd
Long Beach, CA 90803-4405

562-433-7939 Phone
562-433-3668 Fax