Gill Coed National Championship - Semi-finals Day 2

by Jennifer Mitchell on 5 Jun 2014 Today was the second and final day of the Semi-Finals for the Gill Coed National Championship, hosted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The top 36 college sailing teams in the nation competed on the St. Mary’s River in St. Mary’s City, Md. for 18 spots in the championship finals, which begin tomorrow, Thursday, June 5th. The 36 teams are divided into two fleets of 18 teams, Western and Eastern Semi-Final groups, the top nine from each fleet will make up the 18 teams who compete in the finals.

Today the Eastern fleet sailed in 420s and the Western fleet sailed in FJs. This morning, the A-divisions sailed on windward leeward four leg courses and the B-divisions sailed on inner and outer trapezoid courses. This afternoon all of the 420s sailed on the outer trapezoid course and all of the FJs sailed on the inner trapezoid course.

Racing began at 9:30 this morning. The temperature was in the high 70s and the winds were puffy and shifty from the northwest at about five - ten knots. The winds slowly died around 12:30 p.m. and after completing two races in each division in each fleet, the sailors waited on shore for the wind to fill in.

By around 3 p.m. the sailors were back on the course to start racing. A southerly breeze around five - seven knots filled in and remained pretty steady until around 4:15 p.m., when it lightened up again and became patchy on the race course. The sailors started to rotate boats on the water rather than from the dock to try and squeeze in as many races as possible.

The deadline for racing today was 5 p.m., so the race officials got in as much racing as the conditions would allow. The Eastern Semi-Final completed four races today in A-division and B-division for a total of six races for the event. The Western Semi-Final completed three races today in A-division and B-division for a total of five races for the event.

Yale University continued to dominate in the racing today and won the Western fleet. They did not place out of the top four in either division during the semi-finals. The light and patchy conditions were something that the sailors were prepared for.

'We like this stuff,' says Bill Healy, assistant coach for Yale. 'We have a great spot to practice in any conditions [at Yale]. We tucked in close to shore to prepare,' Healy says.

Tomorrow the finals event begins and Healy says Yale’s head coach, Zach Leonard, 'Has done a great job getting everyone psyched up for this long event. We are ready to go.'

Sailing for Yale is: Graham Landy '15 with Katherine Gaumond '15 in A-division and Ian Barrows '17 with Meredith Megarry '17 and Marlena Fauer '14 in B-division.

Notable today was Old Dominion University who moved up from sixth place yesterday to second place today. Sailing for Old Dominion is: Esteban Forrer '16 with Julia Wiesner '14 in A-division and Andrea Luna '15 with Chloe Constants '14 in B-division.


Connecticut College overtook Georgetown University today and won the Eastern fleet. They moved up from second place yesterday, one point behind Georgetown, to one point ahead of them today. Sailing for Connecticut College is: Kevin Martland '14 with Lea Bushnell '15 in A-division and IG Schottlaender '14 with Kim Bolick '15 in B-division.

'It was hard to be consistent today,' says Mike Callahan, head coach for Georgetown. 'Even the best sailors had trouble,' he says. Despite dropping to second place by just one point today, Callahan says their focus is on the next two days of racing.

'We are disappointed we did not win this regatta, but we will take lessons from it and focus on the finals – we will be racing in the hardest fleet of the year tomorrow with the top 18 teams in the nation,' says Callahan.

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.

The US Sailing Grit Award is awarded to the teams who qualified for the finals in ninth place in each semi-final fleet; the recipients today were the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Boston College.

The scoreboard is wiped clean for the Gill Coed National Championship Finals tomorrow. The first warning for racing is at 9:30 a.m. The top 18 teams will be competing for the national title and the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy over the next two days.

Final Nine Teams Eastern Semi-Final:
1. Connecticut College, 48
2. Georgetown University, 49
3. College of Charleston, 64
4. Stanford University, 73*
5. U.S. Naval Academy, 73*
6. Dartmouth College, 74
7. Tufts University, 78
8. U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 80
9. University of Wisconsin, 105
*Number of high place (1) finishes

Final Nine Teams Western Semi-Final:
1. Yale University, 19
2. Old Dominion University, 54*
3. Bowdoin College, 54*
4. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 55
5. University of Hawaii, 60
6. University of South Florida, 63
7. Harvard University, 68**
8. Brown University, 68**
9. Boston College, 75
*Number of high place (1) finishes
**Head-to-head tiebreaker

To follow live media coverage of the Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship, click on the Live Media link. Social media updates are provided daily by College Sailing.

Update: Gary Jobson and Chris Love will be filming portions of the Championships for an ESPNU segment, which will air on Friday, July 11 at 7 p.m. ET, Saturday, July 12 at 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. ET and Sunday, July 13 at 8 a.m. ET. This will be the tenth time the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championships have been covered on ESPNU.

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. Click here to learn more.

Complete Results:

Gill National Champs first round-East:

Score summary

			School	Team	A		B		TOT
	1		Connecticut College	Camels	30		18		48
	2		Georgetown University	Hoyas	20		29		49
	3		College of Charleston	Cougars	33		31		64
*	4		Stanford University	Cardinal	44		29		73
*	5		U. S. Naval Academy	Midshipmen	42		31		73
	6		Dartmouth College	Big Green	44		30		74
	7		Tufts University	Jumbos	27		51		78
	8		U. S. Coast Guard Academy	Bears	43		37		80
	9		University of Wisconsin	Badgers	58		47		105
	10		University of California at Santa Barbara	Gauchos	54		57		111
	11		University of Pennsylvania	Quakers	56		62		118
	12		University of Michigan	Wolverines	50		78		128
	13		University of Virginia	Wahoos	61		76		137
	14		Jacksonville University	Dolphins	88		68		156
	15		Texas A&M University at Galveston	Aggies	82		89		171
	16		Oregon State University	Beavers	95		89		184
	17		University of Wisconsin Milwaukee	Panthers	96		103		199
	18		New College of Florida	New College	103		103		206

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

Gill National Champs first round-West:

Score summary

			School	Team	A		B		TOT
	1		Yale University	Bulldogs	10		9		19
*	2		Old Dominion University	Monarchs	22		32		54
*	3		Bowdoin College	Polar Bears	29		25		54
	4		St. Mary's College of Maryland	Seahawks	37		18		55
	5		University of Hawaii	Rainbows	33		27		60
	6		University of South Florida	Bulls	26		37		63
**	7		Harvard University	Crimson	26		42		68
**	8		Brown University	Bears	38		30		68
	9		Boston College	Eagles	28		47		75
	10		Fordham University	Rams	53		48		101
	11		Eckerd College	Tritons	44		62		106
	12		Washington College	Shoremen	64		54		118
	13		University of Minnesota	Gophers	72		52		124
	14		California State University Long Beach	49ers	69		65		134
	15		University of Washington	Huskies	72		78		150
	16		Clemson University	Tigers	73		78		151
	17		Tulane University	Green Wave	77		75		152
	18		University of Notre Dame	Fighting Irish	82		80		162

Sym.	Explanation
*	Number of high-place (1) finishes
**	Head-to-head tiebreaker