Yale University wins College Sailing Team Race National Championship

by Jennifer Mitchell on 29 May 2013 Following the three days of ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship on Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg, FL, Yale University came away with the Championship title winning the Walter C. Wood Trophy. This event is the second of three collegiate sailing national championships co-hosted by the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, Eckerd College and St. Petersburg Yacht Club this spring.

The day began with completing the top eight round robin. Competitors sailed in FJs on digital N courses. Thirteen races were completed in the top eight round today. The morning saw steady wind conditions from the Northeast about 12-15 knots with higher gusts. Temperatures stayed warm in the 80s all day.

There was a three-way tie after the round in which Brown University, College of Charleston and Georgetown University had a sail-off to determine the third and fourth teams to go on to the final four round.

Normally, under college sailing rules, this tie would be broken with their records of wins and losses, however because this is a National Championship, Nationals conditions apply and require a sail-off between the teams. It took a lot of work from ICSA umpires and officials to determine how the sail-off would be structured, but they mapped it out and racing continued.

Unfortunately the winds began to lighten up and the conditions were the most variable during the sail-off. The racing staff led by University of South Florida, St. Petersburg coach Allison Jolly and the ICSA umpires worked tirelessly to manage the event well and helped put on excellent racing.

Charleston needed to win their two races and Georgetown needed to lose a race for Charleston to advance to the final four. However after some close racing they did not advance to the final four and finished the regatta in fifth place.

Leading into the final four round the conditions improved slightly, but they were still variable with big shifts.

There were six races in the final four round. Yale was leading with a record of 16-4 followed by St. Mary’s with 14-6 and Georgetown and Brown both with thirteen to seven records.

Bill Healy, assistant coach for Yale University says that this was probably the best he has seen the Yale team sail together. 'They executed perfectly and gelled together as a whole,' he says. Yale had one loss today in the top eight round and only one loss in the final four round.

They lost their last race of the finals against St. Mary’s after waiting while races before them were getting called off due to the patchy conditions and then their race was re-started due to the winds as well. Despite their loss, they raced consistently the whole regatta and came away the champions.

This is Yale University’s first ever ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship title. They will be awarded the Walter C. Wood Trophy at the awards banquet tonight, held at Magnuson Resort Marina Cove at seven p.m.

The winning team members are: Graham Landy '15 (Norfolk, Va.) with Heather May '13 (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Eugenia Custo Greig ’14 (Miami, Fla.), Cam Cullman '13 (Rye, N.Y.) with Marlena Fauer '14 (New York, N.Y.) and Christopher Segerblom '14 (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Katherine Gaumond '15 (Mill Valley, Calif.).

St. Mary’s placed second at the Championships for the second year in a row. 'We were a couple of moves away, but the Yale team sailed great and they deserved the win,' says Adam Werblow, head coach for St. Mary’s. Werblow explains that although it is hard to place second for the second time, each year this regatta is hard and there are a lot of dynamics that go into it.

'This was the best team racing of the year for us,' Werblow says. St. Mary’s had a good team racing season this spring, but they were not always at the top of their game. 'To sail our best at Nationals feels good,' he says.

St. Mary’s had a good race today against Yale taking the win in the last race of the day and they also sailed great races against Brown, who they beat three times in this regatta.

St. Mary’s team members include Jacob La Dow ’15 and Ainsley Thomson ’13, Fletcher Sims ’14 with Mimi Roller ’13 and Kelley Merryman ‘14, Joshua Greenslade ’14 and Kayla McComb ’13 and John Wallace ’14 and Katherine Gluskin ’13.

Brown University beat out Georgetown in a tie and placed third in the event. Their team members include skippers: Colin Smith '13, Judge Ryan '14, Tyler Rice '14 and Tommy Fink '13 and crews: Louisa Chafee '14, Kristin Altreuter '14, Ashley Noble '13 and Michael Yanagisawa '13.

Final Results (top eight) – wins and losses

1. Yale University, eighteen-five
2. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, sixteen -seven
3. Brown University, fourteen-nine
4. Georgetown University, fourteen -nine
5. College of Charleston, thirteen -seven
6. Stanford University, twelve -eight
7. Roger Williams University, eleven -nine
8. U.S. Naval Academy, nine- eleven

Racing continues tomorrow with the first day of the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship. The top eighteen collegiate teams in the nation have qualified to compete in this stellar event. The competitors’ meeting is set for 9:15 a.m. and racing will begin around 10:45 a.m.

Gary Jobson will be filming highlights of the three days of racing for the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championships , which will air July 12 at six p.m. on ESPNU. The coverage will also be aired on additional dates this summer. This will be the ninth time they have been covered on ESPNU.

Visit College Sailing to learn more.