2015 ICSA Match Race National Championship overall

by Marlene Navor on 27 Nov 2015 2015 ICSA Match Race National Championship - The College of Charleston sailing team edged out Dartmouth to capture its first-ever ICSA Match Race National Championship title and secure the Cornelius Shields, Sr. Trophy.

The Cougars last won the title in 2007, when the championship was contested as a fleet racing event. This is their first time in program history to claim the national title, since the format was changed to match racing. CofC also won sloop (fleet racing) championships in 1991, 1992, 1999, 2003 and 2006.

Teams representing the states of California, Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Maryland, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Oregon, Michigan and the District of Columbia competed in CofC’s fleet of identical J-22s.

Georgetown won the first round-robin over Eckerd College, Texas A&M-Galveston, CofC, St Mary’s College of Maryland and Dartmouth. The first day of competition concluded with a regatta dinner at the Carolina Yacht Club.

Day two brought dynamic conditions for the repechage and quarterfinals with a challenging two-knot strong cross current and shifty eight - twelve mph Northeast breeze. Georgetown, Eckerd, Dartmouth and CofC advanced to the semifinals after winning a Best-of-three knockouts with Harvard, UC Santa Barbara, Texas A&M-Galveston and St. Mary’s respectively. Zhik USA provided a great Southern barbecue on Saturday evening.

Charleston went on to defeat Georgetown in the semifinals, while Dartmouth edged out Eckerd. The Hoyas defeated Eckerd in the petite finals to claim third-place overall.

The Cougars claimed the first two races in the finals. However, Dartmouth edged CofC in Match number three as it missed an attempt to kill a penalty at the finish. A black flag on Charleston in Match number four tied the series and made for a challenging and exciting final race.

After several lead changes, CofC finally took the lead on the second weather leg and held it for the overall win. Leading the Cougars to victory was sophomore skipper Christophe Killian (Newport Beach, Calif.) along with seniors Reed Baldridge (Clear Lake, Texas), Jake Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) and Beka Schiff (Tampa, Fla.).

The race management team, led by CofC Assistant Coach Mitch Hall, senior team captain Ryan Davidson (Newport Beach, Calif.), senior Sarah Mackey (Bellevue, Wash.) and CofC Sailing alumna Tierney Driscoll (Class of ’15), did a spectacular job providing great racing in the challenging conditions.

2015 ICSA Match Race National Championship overall results

1. College of Charleston
2. Dartmouth
3. Georgetown
4. Eckerd College
5. St. Mary’s College of Maryland
6. Harvard
7. UC Santa Barbara
8. Texas A&M-Galveston
9. Michigan
10. Oregon