College Sailing Team Spotlight: University of Rhode Island
College Sailing Team Spotlight: University of Rhode Island
After winning the 2011 Sperry Top-Sider/ICSA Women’s National Championship, the University of Rhode Island Rams are a team to watch in coming years.
Location/Enrollment: Kingston, R.I., 13,000 undergraduates, 3,200 graduates
Sailing Site: Point Judith Pond, Wakefield, R.I.
Facilities/Boats: The 3,600-square-foot Robert P. Arrigan Memorial Sailing Pavilion is a 15-minute drive from the URI campus. The facility boasts a large meeting and classroom area, offices for the sailing coordinator and head sailing coach, a sail loft, showers, and a repair shop. The pavilion has a covered outdoor deck overlooking the docks and Salt Pond. The docking area, Potter’s Landing—named for former team member Ralph Potter—accommodates the fleet of 18-FJs, 2-420s, 12-Tech Dinghies, 2-J/24s, 2-Etchells, and 5-powerboats.
Coaching: Norm Windus, coordinator of sailing programs/waterfront director; Clinton Hayes, head coach (Ed. note: Hayes is now the assistant coach at Stanford University. Nick Ewenson joins the Rams as their head coach for the 2011-2012 season.)
Team Status: Club
The University of Rhode Island is riding high after winning the 2011 Sperry Top-Sider/ICSA Women’s National Championship in Cascade Locks, Ore., in May. The team—Amy Hawkins, Caroline Hall, Chanel Miller, Danielle Fougere, and Katie Coupland—was ecstatic following the victory, and so was new coach Clinton Hayes. “It was just—wow—unbelievable!” he said. “The team jelled really well. They just got it.” Hayes is a 2010 graduate of the University of Vermont, where he was a two-time All-American skipper and twice competed at nationals. Working alongside Hayes is Norm Windus, who has been the coordinator of sailing programs for 30 of the team’s 76 years in existence, and is a fixture at the modern sailing center. This time-honored East Coast program is full of hard working sailors, and the Rams will be a team to watch in coming years.
Did You Know:
The University of Rhode Island offers unique majors like ocean engineering and provides deep discounts for out-of-state students who choose majors not offered at public institutions in their home states.
Access our College Sailing Team Spotlight archives, and visit the URI sailing team website.
