ICSA News


College Sailing National Championships Set to Begin in Rhode Island


The Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s (ICSA) three spring national championships, Sperry College Sailing Women’s National Semifinal and Final Championships, LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race National Championship, and the Gill College Sailing National Semifinal and Final Championships start on Tuesday, May 21. The Women’s event will last for four days immediately followed by the Team Race championship on May 25, lasting for three days and the Coed championship on May 28, lasting for four days.

The three events will be hosted by Brown University with the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) also supported by the University of Rhode Island, Harvard University and Dartmouth University. The events will be sailed out of Sail Newport at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, R.I. and will enable excellent viewing. A variety of conditions can be expected on the bays in Newport, which will make for challenging and exciting sailing.

These championships are the culmination of two seasons of strong competition and include the top schools from across the nation vying for the championship titles.

Each championship is marked by pre-regatta briefings – on May 20 at the Sail Newport Sailing Center and on May 24 and 27, at the nationals’ tent at Fort Adams all beginning at 6 p.m. All of the events will be sailed on Newport and Narragansett Bay and all competitors will sail in LaserPerformance Club Flying Juniors (FJs) and LaserPerformance Z420s.

Racing is scheduled to begin for the Sperry Women’s Championship on Tuesday, May 21 at 10 a.m. The first two days of racing will be the Semifinals, which is divided into two 18-team regattas. These teams have qualified from their conferences to compete in this portion of the championship. The top nine teams from each group will then advance to the Finals Round – an 18-boat regatta, which will take place on the last two days of the championship, May 23-24.

“This year, all of the events will be out of Sail Newport, which is great to have the regattas in one location, but it’s a lot of work to host them all,” says John Mollicone, director of sailing for host school Brown University. In past years the championships have been spread to other venues and schools within the conference.

“NEISA has really stepped up to help us out with the events,” says Mollicone. “The last time that Brown hosted the spring championships was in 2015 and 2008 with Salve Regina University and the New York Yacht Club.”

The LaserPerformance Team Race Nationals is the next event beginning Saturday, May 25. The first warning is scheduled for 10 a.m. sixteen of the country’s best team race teams have qualified to compete in the event.

The first round of racing is a single round robin with all 16 teams competing against each other. The top eight from this round will advance to a single “championship” round robin followed by a “final four” round robin, which will only be sailed in Z420s. The top three teams and national champions will be determined from the final four.

The Gill Championship will begin next on Tuesday, May 28 at 10 a.m. Similar to the Sperry Women’s championship, the first two days of racing will be a Semifinal regatta, which will include 36 of the top teams in the country that qualified from their respective conferences to compete. This Semifinal event is divided into two 18-team rounds.

The top nine teams in each Semifinal round will advance to the Finals round, an 18-boat regatta on the last two days of the championship, May 30 and 31. This will determine the top three podium spots and name the national champion.

Dan Egan, of Degan Media, will provide some live coverage during the events, sponsored by US Sailing, streaming from the event website. Live coverage typically covers the final day of Sperry Women’s, the final round of eight and final four of LaserPerformance Team Racing, the last day of Gill Dinghy Semifinals, and both days of the finals. More details will be announced about this coverage.

Follow the events via the regatta app from US Sailing, learn how to sign up here: ICSA Nationals App

Additional social media updates will be available throughout the events on the regatta website.

To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the event website: https://2019nationals.collegesailing.org/.

Rob Migliaccio will be providing photos for these events.

Contact: Jennifer Mitchell |Toile à Voile for ICSA | media@collegesailing.org | 970-216-7072 m.

The ICSA sponsors and partners through the 2018-19 season 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”. US Sailing (www.ussailing.org), “The Robert H. Hobbs Sportsman of the Year Sponsored by US Sailing” and “The 2019 College Sailing Live Coverage Presented by US Sailing”. Professional Boats (www.professionalboats.com/), official sponsor of the 2019 ICSA Spring National Championships.