College Sailing Coed National Championship - Semi-finals Day 1

by Jennifer Mitchell on 4 Jun 2014 Today was the first day of the Gill Coed National Championship Semi-Finals, hosted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The top 36 collegiate sailing teams in the nation reported to the regatta venue on the St. Mary’s River in St. Mary’s City, Md. to compete for 18 spots in the championship finals, which will begin on Thursday, June fifth.

The semi-finals are divided into two fleets, an Eastern and Western semi-final fleet, each with 18 teams. The top nine teams from each fleet will advance to the finals on Thursday. The sailors are racing on an inner and outer trapezoid course in both FJs and Z420s. Each fleet sails one type of boat one day and swaps boats the next day. Today, the Western fleet sailed in 420s on the outer course and the Eastern in FJs on the inner course.

This morning the skies were mostly sunny with temperatures in the high 70s, rising to the 80s by the afternoon. Clouds and a thunderstorm came through in the late afternoon.

Racing got underway around 9:30 a.m. today, but the winds were light and spotty at around five knots from the southwest and dying. The race officials were able to complete two races in A-division and B-division in both of the fleets this morning, but the wind died out and the sailors went to shore to wait for more breeze.

After trying to get on the water a couple of times this afternoon the breeze never filled in. A thunderstorm came through around 5 p.m. and the race officials were hoping for wind to fill after that, but unfortunately it still did not. By about 7 p.m. the officials called the racing for the day and they will try again tomorrow.

After the few races today in really light conditions Yale University is in the lead in the Western fleet and Georgetown University is in the lead in the Eastern fleet. Yale did not place out of the top three in either division today and Georgetown got three firsts and a sixth place finish.

'We had two great starts today and we didn’t get too trapped at the edges,' Bill Healy says, assistant coach for Yale. Despite the wind forecast for tomorrow predicting more light air, Healy says, 'We are not worried about tomorrow. We had two great races today.'

Sailing for Yale is: Graham Landy '15 with Katherine Gaumond '15 in A-division and Ian Barrows '17 with Meredith Megarry '17 in B-division.

'Today was mostly about straight line boat speed,' Mike Callahan says, head coach for Georgetown. 'We were happy to not have a bad finish,' he says. With so few races completed today and a final championship still to go Callahan says, 'You don’t want to dial it back [in this portion of the event], but you need to balance not taking too many risks.'

Sailing for Georgetown is: Nevin Snow '16 with Katia DaSilva '15 in A-division and Alex Post '15 with Bettina Redway '16 in B-division.

There are still 16 races to sail in both A and B-division in each fleet. The first warning for racing is at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. No race can start after 5 p.m.

Top Nine Teams Eastern Semi-Final, Day 1:
1. Georgetown University, 9
2. Connecticut College, 10
3. U.S. Naval Academy, 16
4. College of Charleston, 18
5. Dartmouth College, 23
6. Tufts University, 28
7. University of California at Santa Barbara, 35*
8. Stanford University, 35*
9. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 35*
* Head-to-head tiebreaker

Top Nine Teams Western Semi-Final, Day 1:
1. Yale University, 8
2. Bowdoin College, 18
3. Brown University, 21
4. University of Hawaii, 22
5. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 24
6. Old Dominion University, 25*
7. University of South Florida, 25*
8. Harvard University, 29
9. Eckerd College, 32
* Number of high-place (1) finishes

Gary Jobson and Chris Love will be filming portions of the Championships for an ESPNU segment, which will initially air on July 13.

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 website to learn more.

 Complete Results:

Gill National Champs first round-East:

Score summary

			School	Team	A		B		TOT
	1		Georgetown University	Hoyas	2		7		9
	2		Connecticut College	Camels	7		3		10
	3		U. S. Naval Academy	Midshipmen	8		8		16
	4		College of Charleston	Cougars	9		9		18
	5		Dartmouth College	Big Green	15		8		23
	6		Tufts University	Jumbos	17		11		28
*	7		University of California at Santa Barbara	Gauchos	20		15		35
*	8		Stanford University	Cardinal	17		18		35
*	9		U. S. Coast Guard Academy	Bears	22		13		35
	10		University of Pennsylvania	Quakers	14		23		37
	11		University of Michigan	Wolverines	12		26		38
**	12		University of Virginia	Wahoos	20		23		43
**	13		University of Wisconsin	Badgers	20		23		43
	14		Jacksonville University	Dolphins	30		23		53
	15		Oregon State University	Beavers	32		30		62
	16		University of Wisconsin Milwaukee	Panthers	29		35		64
	17		Texas A&M University at Galveston	Aggies	33		32		65
	18		New College of Florida	New College	35		35		70

Sym.	Explanation
*	Head-to-head tiebreaker
**	Number of high-place (8) finishes

 Gill National Champs first round-West:

Score summary

			School	Team	A		B		TOT
	1		Yale University	Bulldogs	5		3		8
	2		Bowdoin College	Polar Bears	14		4		18
	3		Brown University	Bears	15		6		21
	4		University of Hawaii	Rainbows	10		12		22
	5		St. Mary's College of Maryland	Seahawks	14		10		24
*	6		Old Dominion University	Monarchs	8		17		25
*	7		University of South Florida	Bulls	7		18		25
	8		Harvard University	Crimson	5		24		29
	9		Eckerd College	Tritons	18		14		32
	10		Fordham University	Rams	23		15		38
	11		Boston College	Eagles	16		28		44
	12		Washington College	Shoremen	29		20		49
	13		University of Minnesota	Gophers	26		24		50
	14		California State University Long Beach	49ers	27		25		52
	15		Tulane University	Green Wave	31		28		59
	16		University of Notre Dame	Fighting Irish	30		32		62
	17		University of Washington	Huskies	32		31		63
	18		Clemson University	Tigers	32		32		64

Sym.	Explanation
*	Number of high-place (1) finishes