2009 ICSA Women's National Championship - A perfect Day 2

by Jan Harley on 27 May 2009
The conditions were 'perfect' on day two of racing at the 2009 Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Women’s Championship as the ladies racing for the title were kept on the City Front course just outside the breakwater at the St. Francis Yacht Club.

'We couldn’t have had better sailing,' said ICSA President Mitch Brindley who noted that a large crowd of spectators were on hand to see all the action. The breeze, which peaked in the mid 20s, allowed six races to be completed in A-Division, and eight in B-Division. The most challenging set of the day was the last one – races seven and eight in B Division – which was sailed in ebb current.

Under the new format for this championship, the nine teams that had a bye during yesterday’s semi-final round by virtue of their conference performance – College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.), St. Mary’s College (St. Mary’s City, Md.), Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), Texas A&M Galveston (Galveston, Texas), University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisc.), Western Washington University (Bellingham, Wash.), William Smith College (Geneva, N.Y.) and Yale University (New Haven, Conn.) – today had their first shot at the nine teams who qualified from the semis. Of the top-nine from the semis – Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.), Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.), Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), Boston University (Boston, Mass.), Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), University of Rhode Island (Kingston, R.I.), Connecticut College (New London, Conn.), Brown University (Providence, R.I.) and Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, Fla.) – BU, Brown, Dartmouth and
Georgetown benefitted the most from the new format as none of those four would be competing under the old system.

It must be déjà vu for the ladies from Yale University (New Haven, Conn.) – not only are the same pair sailing together in each division, as they did in 2008 they hold the lead heading into the final day of racing for the title, although with just a slim six-point lead over second-placed Old Dominion at 79 points. Senior Jane Macky (Auckland, New Zealand), with junior Marla Menninger (Newport Beach, Calif.), is third overall in A-Division, while the B-Division duo of senior Kate Hagemann (Marion, Mass./Naples, Fla.) and sophomore Liz Brim (New York, N.Y.) are second in B-Division. They will have to work hard to stave off ODU’s junior skipper Katrina Williams (Pembroke, Bermuda) sailing with senior Alissa Ayres (Trenton, N.J.) and junior Ashley Brusso (Portsmouth, Va.), who are the current leaders in A-Division. ODU’s sophomore skipper Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wisc.), with freshman Arianna Baker (East Moriches, N.Y.), are eighth in B-Division. Boston College, the defending champions, leads the B-Division and stands third overall with 88 points. For complete scores: www.collegesailing.org/nas/spring09/womensresults.asp

Racing, which resumes with race seven in A-Division, will determine the champion at the conclusion of the event tomorrow. Stanford is co-hosting the championship with St. Francis Yacht Club, with sponsor support from
Luminaria Medispa. Each school fields a separate A and B division team and, weather permitting, each division sails 20- to 30-minute fleet races in rotation. A team's final score is determined by the combined results of its sailors in A and B divisions.

Current Results:
http://www.collegesailing.org/nas/spring09/womensresults.asp