April 27, 2008
ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship Semifinals Results
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The No. 5 Bulldog sailors continued on the path towards the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championships by qualifying for nationals by placing in the top nine at the Western Semifinal of the ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship Semifinals. The event, hosted by USC on Saturday and Sunday, saw the Bulldogs place second with 132 points over 14 races in each division.
The event, which featured 18 teams that had qualified for the semifinal by virtue of their performances at district eliminations, qualified the top-nine teams to nationals. The Bulldogs, however, took no chances in placing second overall. The Elis, who placed third at the national championship in 2007, return the entirety of their team to this year's championship. The regatta was sailed in FJ's in a shifty four-to-12-knot breeze and warm weather.
The team's performance was highlighted by sophomore captain Thomas Barrows and senior Abigail Coplin's win in B Division. Barrows and Coplin turned in a 60-point performance over the 14 races, beating out No. 3 Georgetown, who won the overall semifinal title, by only one point. Consistency was key for the duo as they finished outside of the top five boats only one time over the regatta. Even more impressive was that the team won five of the races, meaning Barrows and Coplin won more than a third of the races in a variety of conditions at one of the year's most competitive regattas.
The performance of senior Zachary Brown and junior Grace Becton in A Division was similarly impressive. Brown and Becton placed second in A Division with 72 points over the 14 races. The Eli duo finished an amazing 14 points ahead of the next team, who raced for No. 4 College of Charleston. Georgetown won A Division with an impressive 51-point performance. High average finishes helped Brown and Becton in their overall effort as they only finished outside the top 10 one time and finished in the top five seven times over the regatta. The duo won two races, the third and fifth races of the regatta.
The national championship will combine the top nine teams from the Western Semifinal that the Bulldogs competed in along with the top nine teams from the Eastern Semifinal hosted concurrently by Hobart and William Smith. The ICSA/Gill Dinghy National Championships will be hosted in Newport, R.I. on June 2-4 in 420's.
The Bulldogs also turned in one of their best performances in a decade at the 60th BU Trophy hosted by Boston University in FJ's on Saturday and Sunday. The Bulldogs placed sixth overall out of 17 teams, matching their result from 2004. The sixth-place finishes are the two highest finishes at the event in at least the past decade. The Elis last won the BU Trophy in 1971. The regatta featured moderate breeze of six to 12 knots on Saturday with clear skies. Racing was delayed on Sunday due to rain and a lack of wind before a shifty, four-to-six knot breeze filled in at 12 p.m. 11 races were completed in each division over the two days, with the Bulldogs tallying 177 points.
Racing in A Division, sophomore Sarah Lihan and freshman Blair Belling placed eighth with 89 points. Lihan and Belling had a mixed performance, winning the second race of the regatta. The duo also placed second two times.
In B Division, junior Caleb Dorfman and freshman Tatyana Camejo placed seventh with 88 points. Dorfman and Camejo only finished outside the top half four times. The duo won one race, the second race of the regatta.
Belling felt that the weekend was overall productive, in spite of the difficult conditions.
"I thought that it was a pretty good performance, especially on Saturday, when the wind was more consistent," Belling said. "We definitely improved on starts this weekend, which is something we have been working on a lot recently. We didn't have any really bad starts, which was a positive thing."
The Bulldogs also competed at the Southern Series Seven event at Salve Regina in 420's on Saturday and Sunday. The Bulldogs placed third overall out of 18 teams. The regatta featured a five-to-15-knot breeze on Saturday and three-to-seven knot wind on Sunday.
In A Division, junior women's captain Kate Hagemann and freshman Elizabeth Brim placed third with 43 points, only two points back from the first-place team from Brown. The duo won two races and placed in the top-three in five of the ten races.
In B Division, junior Jane Macky and sophomore Rebecca Jackson shared skippering duties while Jackson and junior Emmet Smith crewed. Macky, Jackson and Smith placed fourth with 56 points. The trio placed in the top-five places five times over the 10 race regatta.
The Bulldogs are next trying to qualify for team race nationals at the 59th New England Team Race Championship for the Fowle Trophy. The event is hosted by Brown on Saturday and Sunday in 420's.
Report filed by Caleb Dorfman '09, Yale Sports Publicity
