Gill-ICSA National Championship Day 2

by Jennifer Mitchell on 1 Jun 2011 Today was the second day of the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship on the Columbia River Gorge. The day began with little wind until around noon when the wind came up and B-division headed out to the course first because they finished two races short of A-division yesterday.

The wind was a steady eight knots from a westerly direction with temperatures in the mid to high 50s. Both A-division and B-division completed six races today, however B-division is still one set behind A in the series.

The breeze gradually built throughout the afternoon and there was no room for error on the racecourse as the racing was close and the fleet stayed fairly condensed. Boston College, Harvard University, St. Mary’s College, College of Charleston and University of Miami all started the day out strong. Although Hobart and William Smith suffered a disqualification in race 6B for a foul, sending them back in the scores, they managed to bounce back to third overall at the end of the day although only one point ahead of St. Mary’s College.

St. Mary’s A-division Michael Menninger ‘11 with crew Franny Kupersmith ’11 had a great day sailing very consistently and leading A-division at the end of the day, 'They are a really good team, a nice pairing. They are super quick downwind and they stayed out of trouble. They were also able to judge the lay lines well today, which has been troublesome on the racecourse,' explains Adam Werblow St. Mary’s head coach. Menninger also sailed a race with Ben Lezin ’12 today. St. Mary’s finished the day in fourth place overall.

By race 6A the wind had increased to 14-knots gusting higher and the competitors were sailing hard. Harvard turned it on today with consistency in both A and B-divisions. Harvard’s A-division sailors Alan Palmer ‘11 and Quincy Bock ’11 were able to close the gap this evening, now only two points behind Menninger and Kupersmith. They won the last race of the day and Mike O’Connor, head coach of the Harvard team explains, 'It was important to get that bullet, we needed it, we have a big gap to fill [for first place overall].' O’Connor described the stressful downwind legs: 'It is incredibly close racing, there are 10-12 boats abreast on the runs, so the trick is to use a puff to take you the whole way down. On the final approach to the mark it was important to have good boat placement and not get sucked into the pack of boats behind.' Harvard’s B-division, John Stokes ‘11 and Meghan Wareham ’11 placed second in four of the eight races they have sailed in the event. They finished the day third in their division.

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Boston College finished the day on top of the leader board with a ten-point lead over Harvard. Tyler Sinks ’11 with Laura McKenna ’13 and Lucy Wallace ‘11 in A-division and Taylor Canfield ’11 with Emily Migliaccio ’11 and Patrick Hession ’13 in B-division are sailing strong in their divisions staying in the top of the fleet in each race avoiding mistakes. Canfield and Migliaccio are leading B-division by 18 points, 'They are really quick and got off the line well, there was nothing too special about their sailing today other than they were sailing really well,' says Greg Wilkinson, Boston College’s head coach. 'They [the team] had a good feel for what was working upwind and especially downwind, we spent some time working on the downwinds,' Wilkinson admits. Finding the pressure was particularly important today because of the winds oscillating up and down. The fleet is very close and the racing will continue to stay intense and competitive, especially in the top half of the fleet.

It was another late day of racing for the competitors who showed stamina and focus on the racecourse today. The final day of racing for the Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 10 a.m. Find full results, information and a live Twitter feed on the event website.

Nationals Website: here
View more photos of the event at GTS Photos: here

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 National Championships are sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopsider.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), Gill North America (www.gillna.com), and US SAILING (home.ussailing.org).