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Boston College Leads at the 2008 ICSA/GILL National Championship ICSA Women's National Champions and ICSA/APS Team Race National Champions Poised to Claim Third Title Newport, Rhode Island (June 3, 2008) - In the 41 years that college sailors have fought to win the three national championships held every spring under the umbrella of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, only one college has dominated to win all three events - as the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) did in 1991. The Boston College Eagles (Chestnut Hill, Mass.) are the series leaders heading into the final day of the ICSA/Gill National Championship, and tomorrow, should they turn their 17 point lead into a win, they would not only join the Middies in managing a rare feat, they will have done so on possibly the most famous sailing waters in the world - those of Newport, R.I.. On day one of this championship, light air allowed only two races to be completed in both A- and B-Divisions resulting in some very tight standings at the top of the 18-college field. Harvard University was first with 20 points followed by Georgetown University with 21, College of Charleston with 22, MIT with 25, and Boston College with 26. For the racing today, a southwesterly that built from a morning low of 6 knots into the low teens was overshadowed by the current which was a factor in several general recalls. By the time four sets of races had been completed, the Eagles had made their move and held a slim two point lead over St. Mary's College. The work by skipper Brian Kamilar (Miami, Fla.) and crew Andrew Schneider (Newport, R.I.), both juniors, took them to the top of A-Division when their 1-12-1-6 scoreline was added to yesterday's results of 7-3 at the end of today's sixth set. In B-Division, BC graduating seniors, skipper Reed Johnson (Toms River, N.J.) with crew Julie Howe (Grosse Point City, Mich.) were sitting ninth overall after they added 15-4-6-16 to their finishes of 6-10 from yesterday. With four more races counted for A-Division, Georgetown edged ahead of BC in the standings while tied on points at 128. St. Mary's was then third with 139. Juniors Adam Roberts (San Diego, Calif.) and Carrie Amarante (Wayne, N.J.) took over the B-Division task for BC, and once the score from race 10-B was added, the Eagles were back in the lead with 132 points to Georgetown's 135. Racing wrapped up after the 12th race was completed in both divisions as BC, with 150 points, increased the spread to 17 over Georgetown. St. Mary's remains third with 182 points, followed by Roger Williams University with 202, and Connecticut College with 205. The caliber of the competition is evident in the standings through tenth place: MIT is sixth with 210 points, College of Charleston has 211, Yale is at 220, and the University of Vermont (making their first-ever appearance at the national championship) with 223 is followed by Brown University with 227. The final four races for A- and B-Division will complete the championship tomorrow, Wednesday, June 4. A storm is predicted to move into the area overnight bringing heavy downpours and SSE breeze. For additional information and full results: www.collegesailing.org/nas/spring08/ The Event: In the ICSA/Gill National Championship, each of the 18 competing 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. In order to get to Newport, a semi-final round determined the schools racing for the ultimate bragging rights associated with winning the ICSA/Gill National Championship title. Where colleges once qualified for the 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 are racing in Newport - virtually guaranteeing that the 18 most competitive teams in North America are racing for the ICSA/Gill National Championship. New York Yacht Club's Harbour Court is the 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 is hosting the championships - all three to be sailed in 420s - along with Brown University (Providence, R.I.) and Salve Regina University (Newport, R.I.), with support from Sail Newport. 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 competing follows) 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) ________________________________________________ icsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa
