Georgetown University holds a narrow lead over Harvard University and Dartmouth College.
Georgetown has a 14 wins and 2 loss record, while Harvard and Dartmouth are tied for second place at 13-3.
The three-day event is being co-hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA. The west winds were puffy and shifty. One complete round robin was sailed in Johnson Flying Juniors (FJs) and Parker Larks. After the 66 races were completed, the twelve teams were split into a six-team championship division and a six-team consolation division. The championship division sailed one of two planned mini-round robins today in FJs, while the consolation division finished both mini-round robins in Larks. In the team racing discipline, two teams each sail three boats at a time. The team with the better combined score at the finish is declared the winner.
Georgetown University arrived at the regatta with an army of 25 team members and over 20 supporters, parents and school administrators. Widely considered one of the deepest teams in college sailing, the Hoyas have used eleven different sailors en route to a 14-2 record. Leading the charge was skippers Ryan Costello (Fairhaven, Mass.) and John Camera (Duxbury, Mass.), both seniors, and Brian Bissell (Newport Beach, Calif.), Ken Ward (Tampa, Fla.), and Curtis Flood (Richmond, Ky.), all juniors. Georgetownâs crews were seniors Baye Emery (Greenwich, Conn.), Dana Scalere (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and Gavin Weiss (Greenwich, Conn.), junior Leah Williams (South Dartmouth, Mass.), sophomore Shelly Wentworth (Centerville, Mass.) and freshman Eliza Ryan (Marblehead, Mass.). Coach Michael Callahan (Washington, D.C.) was proud of his team for another good day of fair racing and coming out on top in a lot of close races. Underscoring their already slim lead, Ryan acknowledged every race is a tough race. The Hoyas placed second at last year's championship and are attempting to win their first title.
Co-host Harvard University got off to a rough start, but recovered well, according to Assistant Coach Bern Noack (Belmont, Mass.). He mentioned good intestinal fortitude as a reason for the Crimson's recovery to a 13-3 overall record. Harvard's skippers were juniors Sean Doyle (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Margaret Gill (Weston, Mass.), and sophomore Clay Bischoff (Miami, Fla.). Crewing for the Crimson was junior Susan Bonney (Westford, Mass.) and sophomores Michelle Yu (Mountain View, Calif.) and Lema Kikuchi (Bethesda, Md.) The Crimson have never won the team racing title, but placed third at last year's contest.
Dartmouth College's sailors have the most experience of the leaders, with five seniors leading the Big Green to their 13-3 record. The senior skippers were Patrick Hogan (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Erin Maxwell (Stonington, Conn.). Freshman Scott Hogan (Newport Beach, Calif.) was the third skipper. Crewing for the Big Green was Carly Prior (Huntington, N.Y.), Leslie Sandberg (Colchester, Conn.), and Katie Lyndon (Riverside, Conn.), all seniors. Dartmouth had ãa couple of close wins against Charleston and Hawaii,ä Maxwell said. The Big Green placed fourth in last year's championship. They are battling for their first team racing title.
Standings in the Championship Division: Georgetown 14-2, Harvard 13-3, Dartmouth 13-3, Charleston 10-6, Old Dominion 8-8, Hawaii 8-8
Final Standings in the Consolation Division: UCSB 15-6, Washington 12-9, Texas 9-12, Michigan 6-15, Eckerd 3-18, Minnesota 0-21