College of Charleston wins ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship

by Jennifer Mitchell on 6 Jun 2012 Today was the third and final day of the ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. This event is the second of three collegiate sailing nationals co-hosted by the University of Texas Sailing Team and the Austin Yacht Club this spring.

After three days of racing excitement the College of Charleston walked away with the Championship title and the Walter C. Wood Trophy.

The final four began this morning around 10 a.m. in light winds around three knots from the southeast. The air was warm in the low 80s. Six races total were completed in the final four round robin.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Boston College were the first race to hit the starting line followed by the match up of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the College of Charleston. Going into today’s racing Charleston was leading the regatta by just one win. The other three teams in the final four each had eight wins making for a very close competitive regatta.

It was slow racing—boat handling and boat speed were key to winning races in the light air. St. Mary’s won their first match up with a 2,3,4 combination over Boston College. Hobart won their first race with a 1,2,5 combination over Charleston.

The wind died after the first two races around 11 a.m. postponing the sailing until more wind filled in. After a two-hour delay, racing began again around 1 p.m.

St. Mary’s and Hobart got off the line and battled their way around the course in the light wind. With a few lead changes Hobart took the race with a 1,2 on the water, however a black flag was flown at the leeward mark to indicate a professional foul.

Hobart took room at the leeward mark, when they were not entitled to it. The umpires ruled that Hobart won the race because their foul advanced them into a winning position. Therefore the umpires penalized them by adding six points to their score causing them to lose the race. St. Mary’s was awarded the win.

The wind picked up slightly to about 10 knots for the Charleston and Boston College race. Charleston led at the top mark with a 1,2,6 and Boston College raced to catch the lead boats. Charleston made a successful trap at the leeward mark and held onto the 1,2 up the last beat to take the win with a 1,2,5.

The second to last race of the day was a race for third place between Boston College and Hobart. Boston College got off the starting line late, but rounded the first windward mark with a winning 2,3,5 combination. However, Hobart was able to condense and convert the race in their favor at the leeward mark, rounding with a 1,2 combination. Hobart took the win with a 1,3,5 and therefore moved into third place.

Charleston and St. Mary’s was the last match up of the day and determined the National title. It was a slow fight between the two teams due to the light wind. St. Mary’s had a good start and an advantage over Charleston up the first windward leg, but Charleston took the lead by the leeward mark.

Charleston was able to hold onto their winning combination moving up the last beat and St. Mary’s could not break up their winning pair in time. Charleston took the win with a 1,2,3.

'We were able to sail quickly in the light wind,' says Ward Cromwell, Charleston’s head coach. Cromwell says the team had good clean boat handling, which allowed them to get back into races when they were a little behind.

When it came down to the last race with St. Mary’s, he says they talked about the same things they have been the whole regatta, 'Get off the line, get two pairs and sail with confidence.' He says the sailors pride themselves on communicating the obvious to each other to minimize mistakes.

This is the College of Charleston’s first ever ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship title. Charleston will be awarded the Walter C. Wood Trophy at the awards banquet tonight, held at the University of Texas Golf Club at 7 p.m. The winning team members were: Mac Mace ‘13 with Perry Emsiek ‘12, Zeke Horowitz ‘12 with Cory DeCollibus ‘13 and Ben Spector ‘13 with Alyssa Aitken ‘12.

St. Mary’s team members included skippers Victor Diaz de Leon’12, John Wallace ’14 and Joshua Greenslade ’13 with crews Katie Gluskin ’13, Kelly Merryman ’14, Kayla McComb ’13 and Ben Lezin ’12.

Hobart and William Smith’s team members included skippers Austen Anderson ‘12, Sam Blouin ‘12, John Norfleet ‘13 with crews Bridget Nanniq ‘13, Catherine Pelo ‘13, Jane Rew ‘14 and Chris Klevan ‘12.

Final Results – wins and losses

1.College of Charleston – 11 W, 6 L
2. St. Mary’s College of Maryland – 10 W, 7 L
3. Hobart and William Smith Colleges – 10 W, 7 L
4. Boston College – 8 W, 9 L
5. Roger Williams University – 7 W, 7 L
6. Brown University – 6 W, 8 L
7. Georgetown University – 6 W, 8 L
8. Stanford University – 4 W, 10 L
9. University of Wisconsin-Madison – 5 W, 0 L
10. University of Miami – 4 W, 1 L
11. University of California, Santa Barbara – 3 W, 2 L
12. University of Texas A&M Galveston – 1 W, 4 L
13. University of Oregon – 1 W, 4 L
14. University of Michigan – 1 W, 4 L

Complete results and regatta information here

Racing continues tomorrow with the first day of the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship. The top eighteen collegiate teams in the nation have qualified to compete in this stellar event. The competitors’ meeting is set for 9:30 a.m. CDT and racing will begin around 10:45 a.m.

Gary Jobson will be filming highlights of the three days of racing, which will air on ESPNU on Friday, July 6 at 6 p.m. This will be the eighth time the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy Nationals have been covered on ESPNU. Follow the action on the regatta website: 2012nationals.collegesailing.org.

To catch up on the live media coverage of the ICSA/APS Team Race Championship, click on the Live Media link at 2012nationals.collegesailing.org. The University of Texas provided daily text and photo updates and Chris Love Productions provided video highlights of the opening day of racing, with live streaming video coverage of the final two days, June 4-5. Video coverage presented by Maclaren.

To view or purchase photos of the action from Team Race Nationals, visit the link for photographer Bruce McDonald: http://www.mcdonaldphoto.com/Sailing/2012-Intercollegiate

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 www.collegesailing.org to learn more. The ICSA National Championships are sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopsider.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), Gill North America (www.gillna.com), and US SAILING (home.ussailing.org).