Sailing 6/9/2012 1:07:00 PM

Sailing places as runners-up at Coed Dinghy Championships

AUSTIN, Texas – The Roger Williams University Sailing team came away with a second place finish at the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship, co-hosted by the University of Texas Sailing Team and the Austin Yacht Club on Lake Travis. The Hawks' runner-up finish marks the best placing for Roger Williams at the Coed Dinghy Championships in history of the program.

Competitors arrived this morning around 9 a.m. and sailing was postponed for a lack of wind at 10 a.m. The weather was cloudy, hot and humid. Forty-five minutes later wind began to fill in and A-division hit the water for their first race. The winds were about3-5 knots out of the northeast. The wind direction was similar to yesterday, but the shifts were long and spotty.

Roger Williams University won the first A-division race, 11 A and Harvard University won the next race in the set. B-division hit the water for their first set of the day in a northeast breeze around 3-5 knots.

Three races in each division were completed today for a total of 13 in each division for the regatta.

Roger Williams University won the Oxford University Trophy, awarded to the second place team in the ICSA/Gill Coed Dinghy National Championship. The Oxford University Yacht Club team and its captain Jeremy Thomas presented this trophy in 1954 on the occasion of the first of a continuing series of college regattas between British and North American teams held alternately in the United States and Great Britain every two years.

Roger Williams sailed a consistent regatta. They finished the first two days in third place and moved up to second place after today's racing. "We were fired up to go sailing today, but the wind did not cooperate," Amanda Callahan, Roger Williams' head coach says.

Roger Williams did get enough racing in today to get past Yale. "We are very proud, both of our boats sailed amazing," Callahan says. The team's strength is sailing in shifty conditions and they were able to minimize mistakes and stay in the top of the fleet, she says.

This is the first time Roger Williams has placed in the ICSA/Gill Championships and only the fifth time they have qualified for the event. They have not placed above fourth place before today.

Roger Williams' sailors: Alec Anderson '13 (Tortola, BVI) and Sophie Bellacosa '13 (Winchester, Mass.) in A-division and Sean Bouchard '12 (Bermuda) and Kelly Stannard '12 (Salem, Conn.) in B-division. Also representing the Hawks down in Texas were Tyler Macdonald (Newport Beach, Calif.), Jake Bartlein (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Dylan Vogel (Jamestown, R.I.), and Alexander Rudkin (Middletown, R.I.).

Georgetown sailed a solid and consistent regatta to win the title and the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy awarded to the winning team.

FINAL RESULTS

1. Georgetown University, 137

2. Roger Williams University, 169

3. Yale University, 171

4. College of Charleston, 207

5. Harvard University, 213

6. Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 231

7. Boston College, 231

8. Stanford University, 246

9. Tufts University, 252

10. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 255

11. University of South Florida, 263

12. Boston University, 264

13. University of Miami, 267

14. Dartmouth College, 277

15. Brown University, 284

16. U.S. Naval Academy, 306

17. Old Dominion University, 318

18. SUNY Maritime College, 358

- Release courtesy of Jennifer Vandemoer Mitchell of Toile à Voile

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Players Mentioned

Alec Anderson: S; 5' 1"; Junior

Sean Bouchard: S; 5' 8"; Senior

Alexander Rudkin: S; 5' 10"; Sophomore

Kelly Stannard: C; 4' 11"; Senior

Tyler Macdonald: S; 5' 10"; Freshman

Jake Bartlein: C; 6' 1"; Freshman

Dylan Vogel: S; 5' 8"; Freshman

Sophie Bellacosa: C; 5' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Alec Anderson
: 5' 1"; Junior
: S

Sean Bouchard
: 5' 8"; Senior
: S

Alexander Rudkin
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: S

Kelly Stannard
: 4' 11"; Senior
: C

Tyler Macdonald
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: S

Jake Bartlein
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: C

Dylan Vogel
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: S

Sophie Bellacosa
: 5' 6"; Junior
: C