The St. Marys College of Maryland Seahawks are leading the 2002 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA)/Gill Coed Dinghy NAs with 156 points. With 157 points, the University of Hawaii Rainbows are ready to move in for the kill. Just one point behind the Bows are the Harvard University Crimson with 158 points.
Seahawks coach Adam Werblow, of Larchmont, N.Y., was pleased with the way the weather cooperated for his team. The breeze built for the B races, which was a help to our B team, said Werblow. We prefer more moderate conditions in A, and thats exactly the way it went while A division sailed.
It took more than luck with the weather for the Seahawks to move up from their overall position of eighth yesterday to top the scoreboard today. Senior Brent Jansen, of Weston, Mass., and junior Galen Largay, of Woodbury, Conn., won the first four races in B division, and finished second in two races later in the afternoon. They are leading B division by five points with a total score of 65 so far.
Junior Danny Pletsch and sophomore Jen Vandemoer are fourth in A division with 91 points so far, with junior crew Dave Perkowski stepping in for Vandemoer in two races yesterday. If success continues for the Seahawks, this will mark their second coed dinghy title since 2000.
Hosting the event, and eager to catch St. Marys in pursuit of their first coed dinghy title in school history are the University of Hawaii Rainbows. Freshman Bryan Lake and sophomore crew Jennifer Warnock are leading A division by a whopping 26 point margin with a total score of 61 points so far. Hawaiis B division team is in sixth place with 96 points. Sharing the sailing honors have been senior skipper Molly OBryan and junior crew Sarah Hitchcock, who sailed in four races yesterday and eight today, while freshman Joey Pasquali and junior Lindsay Peters sailed the last two yesterday.
The Harvard University Crimson won the ICSA North American Team Race Championship on Tuesday. Now they are two points from winning their fifth coed dinghy title in school history. In an interview with Derek Webster, Crimson coach Mike OConnor said that strategy-wise his team has adapted “a conservative one. When things got weird, we could make comebacks. We did things right when we stayed out of trouble.” Harvards A division team of returning All-Americans senior Sean Doyle and junior Michelle Yu are in third place with a total score of 88 points so far. Returning All-American junior Clay Bischoff, with crew Lema Kikuchi, are second in B division with 70 points.
Conditions today involved shifty, inconsistent tradewinds that built from five to 15 knots later in the afternoon. Eight races were sailed today, making for a total of 14 completed races and just four more to go before the final winner is determined.
For complete results, visit www.collegesailing.org
