A wind delay on the Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship’s final day kept sailors onshore until enough filled in to have a 12:10 p.m. harbor start. Winds filled in from the southeast and stayed light to moderate in the afternoon. The last races of the day brought some stronger pressure and hiking conditions. There were big oscillating shifts across the racecourse challenging the sailors to stay in phase and sail fast.
Charleston won this regatta two years ago and they claimed back. The Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy was donated by a group of nationally known yachtsmen as a memorial to Henry A. Morss, a Boston yachtsman and 1907 Bermuda Race winner, as well as an MIT alumnus and benefactor.
“Augie [Dale] and Katie [Lounsbury] sailed well all of the event in A-division,” says Ward Cromwell, head coach for Charleston, “which is not an easy task, but they were one of the fastest boats out there – and that was one edge we had. We also made a switch in our B-division sailors for the last set when the wind picked up a bit and we needed another edge.”
“There were challenging starts in the last races,” says Cromwell, “but we held it together. We were able to get off the line well and we had great boat speed and that’s what kept us out in front. After a tough team-race regatta it was great to see the team rally and win this event.”
Sailing for Charleston is: Augie Dale ’19 with Katherine Lounsbury ’20 in A-division, Alie Toppa ’20 with Annabel Carrington ’19 and Jack Brown ’21 with Payton Alexander ’19 in B-division.
Yale University finished in second place, 5 points behind Charleston and won the Oxford University Trophy.
The Oxford University Trophy is awarded to the second-place team in the Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship. The Oxford University Yacht Club team and its captain Jeremy Thomas presented this trophy in 1954 on the occasion of the first of a continuing series of college regattas between British and North American teams held alternately in the United States and Great Britain every two years.
“Today was about getting re-focused and getting our confidence up,” says Bill Healy, associate head coach for Yale. Yale finished yesterday in sixth place, so they made a big move up the scoreboard today.
“We had a great group of teammates who helped each other get up and rebound to get back in the racing today,” says Healy. “There were not many mistakes on the racecourse to allow any breathing room, it was tight racing for the whole event.”
Sailing for Yale is: Nicholas Baird ’19 with Sonia Lingos-Utley ’21 in A-division and Shawn Harvey ’21 with Graceann Nicolosi ’20 and Louisa Nordstrom ’20 with Claudia Loiacono ’21 in B-division.
U.S. Naval Academy finished in third place only five points behind Yale, winning the Metropolitan Sailing League Trophy, which was first presented in 1971.
“It was a tight fight this event,” says Ian Burman, head coach for Navy, “and there were a lot of teams in it, it was so close. Our B-division sailed spectacularly, it was impressive to see our skipper, Joseph Hermus, come so far. He had not been in an FJ or sailed short course races before college sailing. He worked hard and learned a lot.”
“I think the hardest part of this regatta was that the fleet was so good,” says Burman, “there are a lot of good sailors on the water and at this event the level of sailing is so high.”
Sailing for Navy is: Parker Loftus ’20 with Olivia de Olazarra ’22 and Emma Remis ’20 in A-division and Joseph Hermus ’22 with Ana Mier ’19 and Sean Linden ’21 in B-division.
The Robert Allan, Sr. and Robert Allan, Jr. Trophies are awarded to the low point “A” and “B” teams, respectively, in the Gill Coed College Sailing National Championship. Augie Dale ’19 with Katherine Lounsbury ’20 won A-division from College of Charleston with 79 points, three points ahead of second place. Joseph Hermus ’22 with Ana Mier ’19 and Sean Linden ’21 from the U.S. Naval Academy won B-division with 65 points, 33 points ahead of second place.
Gill Coed Final Results (16 races):
- College of Charleston, 205
- Yale University, 210
- U.S. Naval Academy, 215
- Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 256
- Brown University, 260
- Georgetown University, 261
- St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 266
- Stanford University, 285
- Dartmouth College, 301
- Boston University, 302
- Tufts University, 311
- U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 316
- Old Dominion University, 339
- Bowdoin College, 359
- Boston College, 373
- Jacksonville University, 377
- Connecticut College, 391
- University of California at Santa Barbara, 442
At an awards ceremony following racing for the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championship at Sail Newport Sailing Center at Ft. Adams, the honors for the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year, Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award sponsored by US Sailing and the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the Best Overall Team were presented. The names of the winners will be added to the ICSA Hall of Fame display located in the Robert Crown Center at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
The Everett B. Morris Trophy is awarded annually to the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year for outstanding performance at the highest level of sailing in the collegiate year. The trophy is named in memory of a distinguished journalist who spent more than 30 years, as a yachting writer and editor.
This year there were three finalists for the prestigious award: Nicholas Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.) Yale University ’19, Augie Dale (Pewaukee, Wis.) College of Charleston ’19 and Christopher Williford (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Dartmouth College ’19.
Although each of the sailors had an incredible year of competition, the winner, calculated by the numbers, is Nicholas Baird.
Baird had a fantastic year of racing including finishing 4th at the LaserPerformance Men’s Singlehanded National Championship, 1st in the LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship, placed second overall and in A-division at this Gill Coed Championship and won many other intersectional and team race regattas throughout the regular season.
“Nic sailed well all year,” says Bill Healy, associate head coach for Yale. “It was great to see him get this award. He’s the kind of guy who is on top of everything and leaves no stone unturned. He’s a great student academically, but also of the sport.”
In Baird’s award ceremony comments, he exclaimed how much fun college sailing is and all of the good friends he has made on the water.
“Putting me in this group of finalists with Augie and Chris – they are both awesome and it felt like a toss of a coin to see who among us would win the award, ”says Baird, “they both sailed really well this year too.”
“My Dad got me into sailing and my whole life has been sailing,” says Baird, who was born in Newport, R.I. while his Dad was training for the America’s Cup in Newport, but grew up sailing in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Baird graduated from Yale this spring with a double major in political science and history and plans to sail IC37s this summer.
The Fowle Trophy honors the late Graduate Secretary of the New England District and Executive Vice President of the ICYRA/NA. Len served in both posts from their creation until his death in 1973 and his devotion to college sailing is without peer. College sailing today had its very beginnings in the organizational ability and personal drive of this one man.
This trophy is awarded to the team of the College or University with the greatest number of Fowle Trophy Points.
The points are determined using the composite results of the Women’s Singlehanded, Men’s Singlehanded, Intermediate Match Race, Women’s Dinghy Semifinals/Finals, Team Race, and Coed Dinghy Semifinals/Final Championship Regattas. Each team shall receive points toward the Fowle Trophy Award based on its finishing place in each of the events in the composite. Except that only the best finishing place in the Women’s Singlehanded and Men’s Singlehanded Championships shall be used to determine the points for each school in those events.
The winner of the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for best overall collegiate team is Yale University, who had an impressive record especially in the spring season. View further calculations for the Fowle Trophy here on the College Sailing website.
The Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award is awarded annually to the Sportsman of the Year. The trophy honors Robert Hobbs (MIT ’64), past Executive Vice President of ICSA, past President of U.S. Sailing (1992-1994), and former chair of the U.S. Sailing Olympic Committee.
This year’s finalists were Carter Cameron (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) College of Charleston ‘19, Liam McCarthy (St. Petersburg, Fla.), St. Mary’s College of Maryland ‘19 and Chris Williford (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Dartmouth College ‘19. This year’s winner is Liam McCarthy.
“My coaches, Adam Werblow and Bill Ward, tried to teach me early on that sailing is even better when you’re having fun,” says McCarthy, “and I finally caught on.”
One of McCarthy’s fellow competitors describes him as a true sportsman and a force of positivity on his team.
