April 21, 2008

Washington, D.C. -
MAISA Women's Championship at St. Mary's
A div. 2nd Blaire Herron / Leigh Fogwell
B div. 5th Emily Babbitt / Liz Rapp

The Georgetown women's sailing team finished fourth at the MAISA Conference championship this weekend and earned a spot at the 2008 Women's National Championship May-26-28 in Newport, R.I. The top four schools from the regatta make nationals and realistically five teams had a chance to win the event. The Hoyas struggled mightily in the light and shifty winds and found themselves in fourth after the first day and only a few points ahead of fifth-place Old Dominion. On the second day of the regatta the A division pair of Herron and Fogwell sailed much better and were able to give the Hoyas a cushion over Old Dominion. However, in B division Old Dominion kept gaining points on Georgetown and race after race Old Dominion slowly but surely kept catching up. Luckily for the Hoyas mother nature produced some large thunderstorms and the racing had to be postponed and once the weather cleared, time ran out on the event and the Hoyas were able to hold on to a slim four point lead over Old Dominion.

Top 5 Out of 10
1. Hobart / William Smith (46)
2. Navy (47)
3. St. Mary's (52)
4. Georgetown (56)
5. Old Dominion (60)

Thompson Trophy at Connecticut College
A div. 1st Charlie Buckingham / Ashley Phillips
B div. 6th Evan Aras / Caila Johnson

The Thompson Trophy was one of two coed intersectional regattas on the weekend. The Hoyas, sailing three freshmen and one sophomore against some of the best teams in New England, sailed a great regatta to finish second overall. The regatta started off very poorly for the Hoyas with a string of double digit races and a DSQ. After the first set of races the Hoyas were in last place and despite a mini comeback on Saturday afternoon the Hoyas could only manage to reach 10th place. Sunday was a different story. Both divisions sailed consistently well and kept passing team after team until the final race in B when Evan Aras and Caila Johnson won and propelled the Hoyas to second overall passing Harvard and St. Mary's. Freshmen Charlie Buckingham and Ashley Phillips sailed their best regatta of the year to take top honors in A division against a fleet that had many All-Americans.

Overall Top 15 of 18
1. BC (210)
2. Georgetown (241)
3. Harvard (247)
4. St. Mary's (252)
5. Vermont (285)
6. BU (295)
7. Eckerd (303)
8. Brown (321)
9. WAC (322)
10. Hobart / William Smith (323)
11. Connecticut College (339)
12. Coast Guard (363)
13. MIT (381)
14. Dartmouth (382)
15. Yale (430)

Admirals Cup at Kings Point
A div. 4th Chris Behm / Carly Chamberlain
B div. 6th Zack Kavanaugh / Alex Taylor
C div. 7th Scott Furnary

The other coed intersectional was held at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. The Hoyas sailed a very strong event and despite some occasional bad races were able to finish in the top five. Behm and Charmberlain were close to winning A again.

Overall Top 15
1.St. Mary's (415)
2. Hobart / William Smith (451)
3. Charleston (455)
4. Georgetown (474)
5. Yale (475)
6. Brown (477)
7. Navy (516)
8. Boston College (524)
9. SUNY Maritime (546)
10. South Florida (549)
11. Old Dominion (561)
12. King's Point (598)
13. Stanford (625)
14. Tufts (632)
15. Salve Regina (715)

MAISA Spring Open at SUNY Maritime
A div. 1st Nik Holtan / Virginia "Ginger" Cutler
B div. 3rd Marco Teixidor / Andi Bailey

The Hoyas sent a very talented group to SUNY and dominated the regatta from start to finish. Save for a few premature starts in B the Hoyas would have won both divisions easily. In A division Holtan and Cutler dominated winning almost every race.

Overall Top 5 of 14
1. Georgetown (80)
2. Hobart / William Smith (118)
3. Washington College (133)
4. Old Dominion (143)
5. SUNY Maritime (185)

This weekend the Hoyas will finish up the regular season by sailing at the ICSA National Semifinals West Region in Long Beach, Calif. The Hoyas will have to finish in the top nine at that regatta to qualify for the ICSA Fleet Racing Nationals in June.