FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jan Harley <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> , Media Pro Int'l, 401-849-0220 for ICSA ACTION SET TO BEGIN FOR 2008 ICSA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Newport, Rhode Island (May 23, 2008) - Every college sport has its powerhouse teams, and in sailing that brings to mind names such as Boston College, St. Mary's College, Yale University, Stanford University and the College of Charleston. Starting Memorial Day, the spotlight will also shine on a few less well-known college teams, when competitors from 30 schools take to the waters of Narragansett Bay for the 2008 Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) National Championships. Over nine days of competition, the best college sailors in the nation - all of whom qualified to compete - will race for three championship titles: the ICSA Women's National Championship (May 26-28), the ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship (May 30-June 1), and the ICSA/Gill National Championship (June 2-4). To get to the ICSA Women's National Championship and the ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship, schools qualified through performance in their respective conference eliminations. Eighteen teams will compete in the women's event, and 14 in the team racing event. This year ICSA expanded the tournament to include a semi-final round to determine the schools racing for the ultimate bragging rights associated with winning the ICSA/Gill National Championship title. Where colleges once qualified for that championship strictly via the conference system, the new format first eliminated two controversial at-large berths, and then saw the competitive field double with the addition of the semi-final round. The season's performance in their respective conference still mattered - it earned 36 teams their bracket slot at the Eastern and Western semi-finals. The top-nine finishers from those semis will race in Newport - virtually guaranteeing that the 18 most competitive teams in North America are racing for the ICSA/Gill National Championship. Of the 30 schools who will take to the water in Newport, only eight qualified to compete in all three events: Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), Brown University (Providence, R.I.), College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.), Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.), St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.), Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.), University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.), and the University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wisc.). (A full list of competing colleges, by event, follows.) New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court will be headquarters for the championships, with competitors utilizing the Museum of Yachting's boat basin at Fort Adams State Park for their boat rotations. Racing will take place south of Rose Island and west of Goat Island which will offer spectators several vantage points from which to view the action. New York Yacht Club will host the championships - all three to be sailed in 420s - along with Brown University (Providence, R.I.) and Salve Regina University (Newport, R.I.). The Format: For the ICSA Women's National Championship and the ICSA/Gill National Championship, each of the 18 schools fields a separate A and B division team and, weather permitting, each division sails eighteen 20- to 30-minute fleet races over three days for a total of 36 races. A team's final score is determined by the combined results of its sailors in A and B divisions. The ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship pits each college's three-boat team against another's in a round-robin series of matches with the top-four of the 14 teams proceeding to a double round-robin championship series to determine the overall winner. Catch the Replay: Noted sailing commentator Gary Jobson (Annapolis, Md.) will produce a one-hour program on the ICSA/Gill National Championship for ESPNU which will have its first airing Saturday, July 19 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Additional air dates will be posted at www.jobsonsailing.com <http://www.jobsonsailing.com/> . About 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. There are 200 member teams competing in seven conferences. To learn more please visit: www.collegesailing.org <http://www.collegesailing.org/> . ICSA is sponsored by Gill, Annapolis Performance Sailing, Marlow Ropes, Quantum Sails and LaserPerformance: www.gillna.com <http://www.gillna.com/> , www.apsltd.com <http://www.apsltd.com/> , www.bainbridgeint.com <http://www.bainbridgeint.com/> , www.quantumsails.com <http://www.quantumsails.com/> and www.laserperformance.com/main/ -end- (Complete list of Teams Qualified to compete in the 2008 ICSA National Championships follows) May 26-28, 2008 - ICSA Women's National Championship Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) Boston University (Boston, Mass.) Brown University (Providence, R.I.) College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.) Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, Fla.) Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.) Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.) Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas) Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii) University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.) University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.) U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) William Smith College (Geneva, N.Y.) Western Washington University (Bellingham, Wash.) Yale University (New Haven, Conn.) May 30-June 1, 2008 - ICSA/APS Team Race National Championship Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) Brown University (Providence, R.I.) College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.) Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.) Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.) U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.) University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.) University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.) University of Texas (Austin, Texas) University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.) University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.) June 2-4, 2008 - ICSA/Gill National Championship Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) Brown University (Providence, R.I.) College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.) Connecticut College (New London, Conn.) Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.) Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) Hobart & William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.) Roger Williams University (Bristol, R.I.) St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.) Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.) SUNY Maritime College (Throggs Neck, N.Y.) University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Penn.) University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.) University of Vermont (Burlington, Vt.) University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.) U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.) Yale University (New Haven, Conn.) (end)
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