It was another busy weekend for college sailors across the country. Semifinals teams have been slated, Women’s National qualifiers are soon coming to a close, and final regattas are being completed.
The Thompson Trophy, hosted by Connecticut College, took place this past Easter weekend with variable breezes and rain. Well-known local sailor Chris Segerblom sailed for Yale, placing an impressive 5th in A Division. Segerblom helped Yale to a 4th place finish overall.
Another competitive regatta, Admiral’s Cup, was hosted by Kings Point. In this three-division regatta, Michael Menninger placed 2nd in A Division for St. Mary’s. Brooks Clark crewed for Charleston in B Division, helping his division to a 3rd place finish. And Nicolas Russo-Larsson placed 12th sailing Lasers in C Division for Tufts. Ultimately, Charleston ended up with a considerable win over Harvard and St. Mary’s.
Three women’s qualifiers also took place this past weekend, finally narrowing the fleets for the semi-finals the day before Nationals begins at The Gorge in Oregon.
MAISA Women’s Champs were hosted by the Naval Academy, where the breeze held at a steady 10 to 12 knots throughout the weekend. Kayla McComb crewed for St. Mary’s in B-Division, placing 3rd to help her team take the win. St. Mary’s finished only one point ahead of Hobart & Williams Smith. Both St. Mary’s and Hobart qualified for Nationals, while Old Dominion University will have to fight it out at Women’s Semi-Finals.
Meanwhile, the NEISA Women’s Champs, hosted by Bowdoin, were taking place. It looked to be another breezy regatta on Saturday, but that proved not the case with dying breezes on Sunday. Only two races in A Division were completed on Sunday and subsequently the races had to be dropped due to the lack of corresponding B Division races. Local sailor Heather May crewed for Yale, taking 3rd place and finishing 4th overall. NEISA’s top 7 teams will head to Oregon for Women’s Nationals; Yale automatically received a berth for Nationals.
Finally, our West Coast district, PCCSC, also had its championships this weekend, hosted by UC Santa Barbara. The six teams completed 12 races in breezes ranging from 16 to 22 knots with considerable chop.
Through these challenging conditions the two teams that truly rose to the top were Stanford and Hawaii. The two teams really fought it out, alternating the top position almost every set. Ultimately, Stanford took first overall and received an automatic Nationals berth with local Sally Mace dominating B Division. Mace finished the regatta with only 19 points in 12 races.
Another local sailor, Caitlin Beavers, also placed impressively. In only her second showing this year, Beavers placed 3rd, helping UCSB to a 3rd place finish overall. Hawaii, UCSB, and UC Irvine all qualified for Semi-Finals in Oregon, so look for some healthy competition at the end of May.
Lastly, here’s the Coed Semi-Finals lineup for Long Beach this weekend:
“Eastern” Semi-Finals: Georgetown, Naval Academy, Old Dominion University, Cornell, Brown, Tufts, Harvard, Connecticut College, Stanford, UC Los Angeles, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Ohio State, Western Washington University, Charleston College, University of Florida, Tulane, Texas A&M.
“Western” Semi-Finals: St. Mary’s, Hobart & Williams Smith, SUNY Maritime College, Washington College, Roger Williams, Boston College, University of Rhode Island, Yale, UC Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, Marquette University, University of Oregon, University of Miami, Eckerd, University of South Florida, University of Texas.
