CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. – The Roger Williams University Sailing team wrapped up the 2010-11 season by finishing sixth at the 2011 Gill/ICSA Dinghy National Championship. The placing caps off an outstanding season in which the Hawks earned three national championship berths and one national championship.
The winds on the Gorge cooperated and the competitors were able to get in a good day of racing. The westerly winds stayed steady around 10-12 knots gusting higher later in the day. Although it was chilly and wet at times, the sun peaked out a little bit too; today's weather was pretty typical of the last week at the Gorge. Both A-division and B-division completed 14 races in the event; four races in A-division today and six races in B-division were sailed on Windward/Leeward courses. In the end it was Boston College who commanded the lead and won the Henry A. Morse Memorial Trophy.
Roger Williams climbed up the standings after an 11th-place showing on the first day of competition, after moving up to eighth on the second day. Cy Thompson (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands), Kelly Stannard (Salem, Conn.), Tyler Wilson (Woodville, Conn.), and Alyssa Seifert (Duxbury, Mass.) all combined over the course of three days to push the Hawks to a fifth-place finish at A Division. The four would help RWU to a 10-4-6-2 on the final day. Wilson, Alec Anderson (Tortola, BVI), Sean Bouchard (Bermuda), Sophie Bellacosa (Winchester, Mass.), Bianca Rom (Amityville, N.Y.), and Cameron Pimentel (Paget, Bermuda) all had a hand in the Hawks' fifth-place performance at B Division. The team would close out the event with a 9-5-1-4 in the final four races.
The day began with nice breeze so B-division was able to hit the water right away for the first races. It was a game of finding good pressure and riding it up the course. The steadier wind helped on the downwind legs so the sailors could fight the current and hold their boat positions a little better. The racing did stay close and compact, as it has been the last two days. In race 9B one of the leeward gate marks broke free and drifted upwind, so half of the fleet began to sail for it. Redress was filed for the loose mark and the conclusion was to re-sail the race. The mark was re-set and racing continued. Race 9B was re-sailed after race 12B; the old scores thrown out and the fair race scores were recorded.
In the end of the day the wind picked up with gusts around 18 knots. Before B-division took to the water for the last set of the day Boston College was 26 points ahead of Hobart who had 178 points and Harvard and Georgetown were tied with 185 points. It was left up to the B-division sailors to break ties and do what they could to extend leads or pass boats. The wind was quite strong which made the sailors work even harder for their scores. Before the last race Boston College had secured the championship and won the Dinghy title.
The entire athletic department would like to congratulate the Sailing team for its hard work and accomplishments throughout the 2010-11 season.
- Additional information courtesy of Jennifer Vandemoer Mitchell
