College Sailing Team Spotlight
Brown University
Location/Enrollment: Providence, R.I., 6,000 undergraduates, 2,000 graduates, 400 medical students
Sailing Site: Providence River and Narragansett Bay
Facilities/Boats: The sailing team sails out of Edgewood YC in Cranston. Fire destroyed the 106-year-old clubhouse in January 2011, and the team currently operates out of a modular building on the grounds. Brown’s fleet includes 18 420s, six FJs, two Lasers, a Vanguard 15, and three powerboats.
Coaching: John Mollicone, head coach; Dan Rabin, assistant coach
Team Status: Club/Varsity
Founded in 1896, the Brown University Yacht Club was one of the first college-sailing programs in the United States. Over the past 13 years, coach John Mollicone, who achieved All-American status sailing at Boston University, has taken the sailing team to 37 national championships, finishing in the top five 16 times. Most recently, the team placed fourth at the 2011 ICSA/Sperry Top-Sider Women’s National Championship.
“Our greatest strength is always the depth of our team,” says Mollicone. “We have twelve boats that can win races at practice. Oftentimes, practice is as good as, or better than, many of the regattas in terms of depth.
“I really enjoy the Brown students and the environment,” he continues. “We always have a terrific bunch of student-athletes who love to sail and work really hard.”
This spring, the Bears are focusing on team racing and looking to qualify for all three spring national championships. “Our top crew just returned from a semester abroad, and another great sailor transferred to us from UCLA,” says Mollicone. “We feel we have a team that can finish near the top at both Women’s and Dinghy Nationals.”
Did you know?
In 1991, Brown became the first Ivy League school to win the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy, awarded to college sailing’s Best Overall Team.
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