College Sailing Spring Championships Begin Tomorrow: ICSA Names Qualifying Colleges

Cascade Locks, Oregon (May 25 2004) – What do you get when you take college sailors from 25 schools, put three North American championship titles on the line, and stage the competition in one of the most talked about places to sail in the USA? A week of thrills, spills and intense racing! Starting this week the Northwest Intercollegiate Sailing Association will host the much-anticipated Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) North American Championships in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The ICSA North American Women's Dinghy Championship will run from May 26-28; the ICSA/Layline North American Team Race Championship from May 30-June 1; and the ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championship from June 2-4. All three events will be sailed in FJs from Marine Park, where all of the racing in the Columbia River Gorge can be seen from shore.

For those who can’t get to the Gorge in person, Windtopia – the windsports-focused media and entertainment company – will package digital video, produced by T2Productions, for a show that will air on CSTV (College Sports TV) sometime in July.

Each of the 25 colleges participating will field separate A and B division teams for both the women’s and dinghy events. District eliminations qualified 18 colleges to compete in the women's championships; 14 qualified for the team racing championship; and 16 qualified for the dinghy championship, which also includes two teams selected at-large. Of the 25 colleges qualified for these championships, nine schools qualified to send competitors in all three championships: College of Charleston, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Hobart/William Smith Colleges, Texas A&M Galveston, University of Hawaii, University of Michigan, University of Washington, and the University of Wisconsin.
Additional championship information is available online at: http://www.collegesailing.org/nwicsa/na/default.htm

ICSA AWARDS - ICSA will recognize the achievements of its members at a banquet in Cascade Locks on June 4, 2004, when it names the College Sailor of the Year, Sportsman of the Year, Student Leader of the Year and the 2003/2004 ICSA/Ronstan All-America Sailing Team. The Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the college with the best combined record from the six collegiate championships (including last fall’s ICSA / Vanguard North American Men's Singlehanded Championship, ICSA / Vanguard North American Women's Singlehanded Championship, and the ICSA Sloop North American Championship) will also be awarded. Additionally, the College Sailing Hall of Fame will induct post-graduate leaders in the categories of Volunteer Leadership, Professional Leadership and Lifetime Service. Those honorees will be selected based on their service specifically to college sailing. The Quantum Female College Sailor of the Year award will be presented at the conclusion of the 2004 ICSA North American Women's Dinghy Championship.

To learn more about ICSA, visit www.collegesailing.org. For additional information on the sponsors of these championships, please visit them online: www.gillna.com, www.layline.com/, www.quantumsails.com, www.ronstan.com and www.teamvanguard.com. Event website: www.collegesailing.org/nwicsa/na/

Teams Qualified are as follows:

May 26-28, 2004 ICSA North American Women’s Dinghy Championship
Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)
Connecticut College (New London, Conn.)
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.)
Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)
Hobart/William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.)
Michigan State University (East Lansing, Mich.)
Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.)
Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)
Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
Tufts University (Medford, Mass.)
University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)
University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)
U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.)
Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)

May 30-June 1, 2004 - ICSA/Layline North American Team Race Championship
Brown University (Providence, R.I.)
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.)
Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)
Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)
Hobart/William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.)
St. Mary's College (St. Mary’s City, Md.)
Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)
University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)
University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)

June 2-4, 2004 - ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championship
College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.)
Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.)
Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)
Hobart/William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.)
St. Mary's College (St. Mary’s City, Md.)
Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
Tufts University (Medford, Mass.)
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.)
University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.)
University of Texas (Austin, Texas)
University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)
University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)
Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)
At Large:
Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)
Stanford University (Stanford, Calif.)