ICSA Match Racing National Championship - Final results

by Blaine Pedlow on 24 Nov 2010 ICSA Match Racing National Championship - Kings Point was excited to play host to the 2010 Match Racing National Championship. This was the first match race championship for college sailing in the US and ten teams and great conditions made this event one to remember.

On Friday sailors completed a boat draw and sailed a brief practice session before beginning the first stage of competition. Group A and B sailed a complete round robin to determine the top two teams that would advance to the Gold Round; the bottom six teams would sail in the repechage. St. Mary’s was undefeated through Group A and was joined by College of Charleston; Group B advanced Tulane and Kings Point. Boston College, Brown, Washington, Wisconsin, Cal Maritime and Minnesota would have to earn their berth in the quarterfinals through the repechage.

The repechage and gold rounds finished on Saturday at noon; the two bottom teams (CMA and Minnesota) were eliminated and sailed a knockout round to determine ninth and 10th place. Using the rankings from the gold and repechage, the knockout quarterfinals began with team 1 vs team 8, 2 vs 7, etc. Kings Point earned the three seed and would face a rebounding Boston College in the quarters, Brown would race Charleston in the 4 va 5 match. St. Mary’s and Tulane would face Wisconsin and Washington, respectively.

Quarterfinals:

#1 SMC def #8 Wisconsin
#2 Tulane def #7 Washington
#6 Boston College def #3 Kings Point
#5 Brown University def #4 Charleston (3 races)

Quartfinals Consolation:

#9 Cal Maritime def #10 Minnesota (3 races)

The semifinals began in a 16 knot westerly with the starting line right off of the Kings Point pier. Boston College defeated Tulane in two races, coming from behind in the final race to take the win. Brown handed St. Mary’s their first defeat of the regatta, but St. Mary’s rebounded with a win in the second flight. With the sun setting, the final race of the semifinals would have to be sailed on Sunday morning.

With BC awaiting their challenger for the Championship, Brown and St. Mary’s squared off one final time on Sunday morning. In a 10-knot northeasterly, St. Mary’s was able to lead at the start and controlled Brown around the course, holding on for the win and advancing to the Championship round. Brown would race Tulane for third.

Tulane won the first race handily, but Brown rebounded in the second race and evened the first-to-two points knockout petit finals. In the final race for third, Tulane led until the final run, where Brown was able to gybe above Tulane in a left shift and get over the top of the Green Wave’s luff. As the teams raced to the finish, Tulane attempted to gybe and hold Brown out of the finish, but was flagged for not allowing Brown room. The Brown Bears would take the win and finish third.

In the first to three point Championship round, St. Mary’s was able to start the first race with a slim lead. Boston College showed great speed and was able to gain and force St. Mary’s into the left corner. When they tacked to the mark, BC led SMC into the weather mark and fought off SMC’s advances on the run; BC held on for the win. In race two, BC won the start and led wire to wire. In what could end up the final race, St. Mary’s controlled the start and rounded the weather mark ahead of BC. St. Mary’s held their lead until the final beat, where BC was able to get to the right of them and pass. Boston College held off St. Mary’s on the run and sailed to the victory.

Congratulations to Boston College for winning the inaugural ICSA Match Racing National Championship!

Many thanks are due to the following people:
- Bill Hardesty, Isao Toyama, Tod Reynolds and the Chicago Match Race Center

- Dawn Riley and Oakcliff Sailing Center

- Outstanding PRO Sue Miller from Manhasset Bay YC

- Chief Umpire Bruce Cook and his umpire team of Chris Petracco, Charlie
Arms, Don Becker, Hans Graf, Christine Accetella, Sandy Grosvenor, John
Pratt, Don Mackowiecki and Greg Kiely

- Glennon Stratton from GTS Photos

- The Kings Point Midshipmen for volunteering to run this event on their
Fall Break!

Final Results:

1. Boston College Eagles
2. St. Mary’s Seahawks
3. Brown Bears
4. Tulane Green Wave
5. College of Charleston Cougars
6. Kings Point Mariners
7. Washington Huskies
8. Wisconsin Badgers
9. Cal Maritime Keelhaulers
10. Minnesota Golden Gophers

http://collegematchrace.com/