College sailing awards and news—Sailing news from the U.S. and beyond

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 22 May 2013 College sailing holds a special place in the pantheon of American sailing. No other country has a nation-wide network of organized collegiate sailing, nor do other countries provide the same sort of leadership and service opportunities for sailors looking to give back. To honor this great work, the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) has inducted Skye Kussmann, Daniel Winters, Michael O’Connor and Sheryl B. 'Sherri' Campbell into the ICSA Hall of Fame.

Each sailor received a different award (check out the story, inside, for the full details), with service and leadership being key buzzwords used to describe these dedicated individuals. 'I love the sport and I enjoy helping to provide the experience of being on a team working together to become the best we can be,' O’Connor.

And speaking of the ICSA, the organization’s three major regattas, the Sperry Top-Sider/ICSA Women’s National Semi-Final and Final Championship, APS/ICSA Team Race National Championship, and the Gill/ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship begin on Tuesday (May 21) in St. Petersburg, Florida and are being hosted by the University of South Florida with Eckerd College and the St. Petersburg Yacht Club. Get the full scoop inside, and stay tuned to the website for more news from these events, as they unfurl.

Meanwhile, in America’s Cup news, Artemis Racing’s battered AC72 was hauled from the water two days after its May 9 capsize, revealing the full extent of the destruction that befell the big red boat. Sail-World has obtained images of the broken catamaran (inside this issue), which are must-see media for any Cup pundit curious as to what came first, the capsize or the structural failure. The Review Committee is currently reviewing all facts to try and answer this important question prior to the start of this summer’s Louis Vuitton Cup racing (July 5).

And in international match-racing circles, Ian Williams (GBR) and his crew won the Alpari World Match Racing Tour’s prestigious Lake Constance event, beating out Adam Minoprio (NZ) in the final, light air race.'It was really light which meant maneuvers were really costly. We did a nice job of keeping [Minoprio] down-he had to do a couple of gybes in the last minute before the start and that cost him a bit of speed which allowed us to be faster and closer to the line at start time. Then we did two less tacks on both beats and that is what allowed us to draw away by the finish.' More, inside.

Also inside, get the full scoop on the Finn World Masters, the Chicago Match Racing Center’s Spring Invitational and the Delta Lloyd Regatta. And finally, for ocean-racing fans, don’t miss the latest updates on the One Design sail inventory that will be used by all teams in the 2014/2015 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

May the four winds blow you safely home,