College Sailing Team Race National Championships day 2

Boston College John Payne

University of Hawaii © John Payne

Twenty-six races were completed in the first round today. The conditions were nice for racing with an even course to compete on making it great for team racing. The top three teams tied for first after yesterday finished the preliminary round on top. Yale University made it through with only one loss followed by Brown University with two losses and Stanford University with three losses.

The racing continued to be close, which resulted in a few ties after the first round. The U.S. Naval Academy, Boston College and Hobart and William Smith Colleges all had to compete in a sail-off to determine who would advance in the top eight. Navy won both sail-offs sending them into the top eight round.

First Round Robin Results (wins and losses):

Top eight

1. Yale University, twelve-one
2. Brown University, eleven-two
3. Stanford University, ten-three
4. Roger Williams University, nine-four
4. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, nine-four
4. College of Charleston, nine-four
7. Georgetown University, seven-six
8. U.S. Naval Academy, six-seven

Places 9-14

9. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, six-seven
10. Boston College, six-seven
11. University of Hawaii, two-eleven
11. University of Washington, two-eleven
11. University of Wisconsin, two-eleven
14. Texas A&M University at Galveston, zero-thirteen

During the sail-off races the wind began to lighten up and die down. There was significantly less wind as the top eight round robin began in the afternoon. The course had streakier conditions, which complicated the team racing. Teams had to not only focus on their team race maneuvers, but also concentrate on fleet racing skills to win races.

The top eight teams showed their strength today and how evenly matched they are with a lot of close racing. Forty-three races were completed today in the top eight round. Yale was leading going into the round and continues to lead after their three races today. In their first race there was a collision between a Yale boat and a Navy boat, which broke a tiller. Therefore the Yale boat had to complete the race with a snapped tiller. Yale was granted a re-sail and beat Navy in that additional race.

Yale University and Georgetown University © John Payne

'Going into today we were looking to come out of the first round clean, which we did,' says Bill Healy, assistant coach for Yale. The team had one loss going into the top eight and now has a record of one-two in the round. Healy says that they are looking to sail as clean as possible and if they lose a race to be able to bounce back because every team competing is good.

Notable races for Yale today included a race against Georgetown University where they were winning the race until the end when Georgetown over took them resulting in a loss. Similarly, in their race with St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Yale was winning, but St. Mary’s did an excellent job of breaking up their one,two lead. 'We did not fleet race well enough,' Healy says of the race.

Tomorrow Yale is looking to execute what they have practiced and be able to run their plays. He says the practice is all there, they just need to implement it. He says it is still anyone’s game and whoever can maneuver and convert their pairs the quickest – especially on the final beat – will do well.

Sailing for Yale is: Graham Landy '15 and Heather May '13, Cam Cullman '13 and Marlena Fauer '14 and Christopher Segerblom '14 and Katherine Gaumond '15.

Racing will continue tomorrow with 13 more races to sail in the top eight round robin. Once the top four have been determined the final round robin of the Championships will begin to determine the top four finishers. Competitors report at nine a.m. with racing scheduled to being around 9:45 a.m. The forecast for tomorrow is for steadier winds.

Check the regatta website for complete results and regatta information: here

Top Eight Results (wins and losses)

1. Yale University, thirteen-three
2. Brown University, thirteen-four
3. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, twelve-five
4. College of Charleston, eleven-five
5. Stanford University, eleven-six
6. Georgetown University, ten-seven
6. Roger Williams University, ten-seven
8. U.S. Naval Academy, College Sailing