ANNAPOLIS, M.D. (May 18, 2021) – The Women’s College Sailing National Championships start tomorrow, Wednesday, May 19th, and will run through the 20th, hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy. The two remaining spring Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Championships, the LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race Nationals and the Gill College Sailing Dinghy Nationals, will follow in the coming weeks.
Due to COVID-19 the ICSA Medical Guidance helped to direct the decision to spread out the three championships over three weeks in order to allow for appropriate pre and post event testing for those involved. Missing this year will be the semi-finals portion of the championships, which is typically the first two days of racing. Instead the racing has been distilled down to just two days of finals racing.
All teams were selected from their conference championships to compete in these events. There will be 18 teams in both of the fleet racing championships and 12 teams in the team racing championship. Competitors will sail in Navy’s Z420s and Georgetown University’s Club Flying Juniors (FJs) on the Severn River.
“It has really been a difficult year, managing testing and safe and reasonable distancing protocols,” says Mitch Brindley, president of the ICSA and head coach of Old Dominion University. “This year we focused on one-day regional events with fewer schools, and more boats from each school. Despite any differences in format, the competition has been great.”
The three spring championships will be hosted by the U.S. Naval Academy with support from the Annapolis Yacht Club, Severn Sailing Association, Eastport Yacht Club and the Annapolis Sailing School. Each of the local clubs will store boats overnight and host four schools on their property to allow for proper distancing.
“I think once everyone gets on the course, racing will be just like in a normal year,” says Ian Burman, head coach for the Naval Academy. “We're just really excited to be able to have championships and we're glad to put in the work to make them happen. It's been 14 months since we've had full dinghy regattas and we've really missed it.”
"This time of year we can get a wide range of conditions,” says Burman, “on warm days in May and June, we often get nice 8-15 knot sea breezes. We also have fronts that come through and can cause shiftier winds from the west. On rainy days, we often see northeast winds. This time of year is one of the nicest in Annapolis, though and we are hopeful for good racing conditions.”
The LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race Nationals will take place June 2nd-3rd and the Gill College Sailing Coed Dinghy Nationals will run June 7th-8th.
T2PTV will be filming and producing a show that will stream on the last night of each championship. The shows will be highlight style including coverage with commentary as the racing is happening along with side-to-side interviews with competitors and the winners. Find the shows on the T2PTV YouTube channel. Subscribe and ring the "bell" to be amongst the first to see the shows.
Additional social media updates on the College Sailing Facebook and Instagram pages will be available throughout the events as frequently as possible.
To learn more about the teams competing in all of the events and to follow the racing and results visit the College Sailing website and TechScore pages.
Contact: Jennifer Mitchell |Toile à Voile for ICSA | media@collegesailing.org | 970-216-7072 m.
The ICSA sponsors and partners through the 2020-21 season are: LaserPerformance (www.laserperformance.com), title sponsor of “LaserPerformance College Sailing Team Race National Championship” and Official Boat Supplier of the ICSA. Gill North America (gillna.com), title sponsor of “The Gill College Sailing Dinghy National Championship”. Quantum Sail Design Group (www.quantumsails.com), official sponsor of the “Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year”.