May 27, 2008

ICSA Women's National Championships Day Two Results

NEWPORT, R.I. - The No. 7 Bulldog women's sailing team is poised to capture their first national championship in dinghies since 2004. With two days of competition and 14 races completed, the team has a seven-point edge over No. 3 Boston College, with only four races on Wednesday remaining at the ICSA Women's National Championships hosted in 420's in Newport, R.I.

The Bulldogs have put in a strong performance since the first races of the event on Monday. Between both A and B Divisions, the Bulldogs have finished outside of the top-half of competitors only three times, an impressive accomplishment considering a total of 28 races have been completed. The B Division boat, skippered by junior captain Kate Hagemann, had one very hot streak near the beginning of the event, winning three consecutive races. The Bulldogs are currently in fourth in B Division with 82 points. The A Division boat, skippered by junior Jane Macky, is demonstrating how consistent finishes are critical to wining regattas. The A Division team currently sits in second place with 65 points and has never finished outside the top eight teams in the 18-team national championship regatta fleet. Both the A and B Division teams have each finished in the top-five boats 10 times over the 14 races.

The Bulldogs have led the overall standings of the championship since the third race in each division. Since then, the Bulldogs have continued to cement their lead, building a 27-point cushion over the nearest competition by the end of 10 races in each division. With only four races in each division remaining, the Bulldogs, who currently have 147 points, sit atop a tightly packed leader board, but will aim to hold off the competition through sailing consistently in all types of conditions. Boston College is only seven points behind the Bulldogs, with No. 2 St. Mary's College of Maryland in third with 157 points, followed by No. 6 Brown with 157 points and No. 4 Stanford with 172 points. No. 1 College of Charleston has struggled to achieve consistently high finishes and sits in seventh with 184 points. With the overall standings so close, anything can happen in the final four races, as Boston College demonstrated by moving up from seventh after the first day of racing to second at the conclusion of the second day of racing.

The conditions over the first two days have tested the athlete's ability to withstand high winds and large waves. The wind has reached over twenty knots at times and the waves have built due to the high winds and the current ripping against the wind. The Bulldogs, however, have not been daunted by these conditions, as they have been able to avoid the capsizes and other mishaps other teams are experiencing due to the extreme weather because of frequently working on heavy air skills at their open-water venue at the McNay Family Sailing Center on Long Island Sound.

Wednesday will bring four more races in each division for the 18 teams competing for the title of the best women's sailing team in the country. If the Bulldogs can continue sailing the way they have at the event so far, a national title, their first since 2004, is a realistic possibility.

Report filed by Caleb Dorfman '09, Yale Sports Publicity