The four-division Navy Fall Intersectional was held in Annapolis, Md., this past weekend, bringing together 20 teams from six of the seven ICSA districts. Despite heavy water traffic from the Annapolis Powerboat Show, which was held concurrently, twenty races were held in all four divisions in strong breeze at the event.”It was fairly windy both days,” said Dartmouth Assistant Coach Brian Stanford. “The race committee completed 10 races in A and B division each day, and 11 and nine, respectively, in C and D divisions, with time to spare on Sunday afternoon. The breeze was steady both days and stronger on Sunday, which allowed the races to go off very smoothly in light of all the water traffic.”Harvard, which recently slipped to No. 2 in the Sailing World polls, proved its team is still a force to be reckoned with. The Crimson’s Laser sailors dominated C and D divisions, while Harvard’s A division finished second and B division finished fourth. It all, it was good enough to come out seventy points ahead of runner-up Tufts. “I thought this was one of the most competitive Laser fleets I’ve ever seen in a collegiate regatta,” said Harvard’s Vince Porter, who won C division. “The racing was very close. There were so many good boats, but many of them seemed to do very well in certain stretches with the same conditions. The racing remained really close after the first day, but a few of the top boats struggled in the heavier breeze on Sunday.”Dartmouth’s sailors, recently ranked first in the Sailing World polls, won both A and B divisions, and finished fifth place overall, demonstrating that their double handed boats are still a formidable force.”The variety of conditions made changing gears key, since we had to go from five knots to 15 or so,” said Clementine James, who, along with Erik Storck, won B division by 23 points. “The competition was definitely some of the toughest we have seen all season, and we were excited to sail consistently enough to come out on top. With twenty races and some very sketchy breeze/course combinations, being consistent was very tough.”Tufts University finished ninth in A division, second in B division, third in C division, and fourth in D division. Hobart & William Smith Colleges wound up third, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy was fourth.The Navy Fall Intersectional is the only collegiate regatta with four divisions, making consistency and team depth the key to success. Harvard, Tufts, and Hobart proved that they have that depth.Navy Fall Intersectional RegattaUS Naval AcademyOct. 18-19, 2003Place Team A div/B div/C div/D div//Total1. Harvard 122/156/98/72//4482. Tufts 181/122/117/106//5263. Hobart William Smith 159/183/141/92//575 4. Kings Point 135/160/103/188//586 5. Dartmouth 121/99/130/248//598 6. Brown 153/128/202/128//611 7. Stanford 200/177/142/92//611 8. Old Dominion 163/158/217/163//701 9. St Marys 182/180/169/182//71310. Georgetown 164/182/166/208//720
