ICSA News

The College Sailing season is upon us and with it came the end of summer as hot, sticky air was replaced by cool conditions reminding sailors of moments preparing in the boat park, listening to halyards rattle as anxieties heighten. Hopefully you are as excited as I am.

This newest edition of the College Sailing season comes with a new adjusted schedule that begins with three weeks largely consisting of intraconference regattas that, perhaps, will make new feel like old.

Jeff Knowles, who incurred a kite boarding accident on San Francisco Bay which kept him underwater for at least 10 minutes, succumbed to his injuries early on June 7.

Jeff grew up sailing at Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, RI and competed in regattas around the country. He sailed on the St George’s high school team and was named an All-State Sailor before joining the Brown University Sailing Team where he became Team Captain, an honorable mention All-American, and an Academic All-American. He relocated to California to attend UC San Francisco to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience.

“Jeff passed away at far too young an age,” shared Dan Rabin, Brown University Assistant Sailing Coach. “I coached Jeff in sailing at Brown University, where he graduated in 2010. He was an incredibly free spirit both on and off the water. I’ve never seen anyone quite like him.

NORFOLK, V.A. (June 5, 2018) – In a previous release on June 2, the ICSA All-Americans were announced and there has been a correction to the listing. Wade Waddell (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Boston College ‘19 is an ICSA Honorable Mention Coed All-American Skipper, he was previously listed as an ICSA Coed All-American Skipper.

Listed are the names and corrected list of the All-American Coed Skippers, Crews and Honorable Mentions.

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 two finalists for the prestigious award: Stephano Peschiera (Lima, Peru), College of Charleston ’18 and Greiner Hobbs (Tampa, Fla.), Hobart and William Smith Colleges ’18.

Today was the last day of the Gill Coed National Championship. This is the final of three high caliber spring college sailing national championships that were run on the Elizabeth River, hosted by Old Dominion University. After four days of challenging conditions and competition the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has won the national title and the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy.
 
The sailors arrived to very little wind this morning and had a slight delay before racing began in about 5-8 knots from the southwest. It was a hot and sunny day and the winds did lighten up off and on, so the sailors had some more delays through the day and a wind shift to the northwest.

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.

Today was the first day of the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championship Semifinals, hosted by Old Dominion University. The top 36 college sailing teams in the nation are vying for 18 spots in the championship finals, which will begin on Thursday, May 31.
 
The semifinals are divided into two fleets, an Eastern and Western, each with 18 teams. The top nine teams from each fleet will advance to the finals on Thursday. The sailors are racing on windward leeward courses with four legs in FJs and Z420s. Today the Eastern fleet sailed FJs and the Western fleet sailed Z420s. The plan is for the fleets to switch boats tomorrow.

Racing was completed today in the LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship on the Elizabeth River hosted by Old Dominion University. This is the second of three spring college sailing national championships. The top sixteen collegiate team racing teams in the nation competed for the national title and the Walter C. Wood Trophy and the defending champions, College of Charleston won the title.
 
The day began with a 180-degree wind shift; so racing was delayed but got started around 11 a.m. when the wind settled into a northeast direction around 7 knots. The winds stayed light and temperatures were about 80 degrees under cloudy skies.

Today was the first day of racing for the LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race National Championship on the Elizabeth River hosted Old Dominion University. Sixteen of the best college teams across the nation qualified to compete in this event for the Walter C. Wood Trophy, awarded to the winning team.
 
Racing got underway around 10 a.m. under party cloudy skies and 85 degrees. It warmed up quickly to about 90 degrees. The winds built to about 13-17 knots from the southwest. It was hiking conditions for a lot of the day.

Today was the last day of racing for the Sperry Women’s National Championship Finals hosted by Old Dominion University. The top eighteen women’s collegiate teams in the nation raced for the Gerald C. Miller Trophy and Boston College took the win.
 
Racing began at 10 a.m. in sunny, hot and humid conditions. Temperatures stayed in the 80s. The winds were from the south oscillating on the course around 6-10 knots. There were a number of general recalls today with the sailors eager to start and shifting winds. Racing wrapped up around 2:30 pm.