HARVARD UNIVERSITY WINS SECOND ICSA NORTH AMERICAN TEAM RACE CHAMPIONSHIP

GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MICHIGAN (June 7, 2003) - Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) defended their Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association American Team Race title in racing that concluded today. Wind was spotty all day and ultimately prevented all scheduled races from being completed. By virtue of their 5 wins and 2 loss record in the races that counted, Harvard won their second Team Racing Championship in school history.

This morning, St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.) beat Tufts University (Medford, Mass.) in the final race of the "winners" round of 8 teams, advancing to the final four. The consolation round followed, with Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas) winning. As the final four series began, St. Mary's appeared ready to score an upset and take the title, beating University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Harvard in the final four round robin. As the breeze continued to drop, the round robin was abandoned after the 5:00pm cutoff to start the final race. Without the complete final four round robin completed, scores reverted to the records from the championship round robin of eight teams. Some races sailed this afternoon were used as a sail-off tiebreaker, with St. Mary's taking second place, followed by USC and Hobart/William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.).

Racing was held at the Crescent Sail Yacht Club in new Vanguard 420s provided by Vanguard Sailboats (Portsmouth, R.I.), a partner in the ICSA Growth and Development Project. The University of Michigan and the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association were the hosts of record.

Harvard won last year's event in Hawaii with an undefeated record, but this year's contest was far closer. Coach Mike O'Connor (Foxboro, Mass.) said that the "wind was so light the whole time that it was all about boathandling" and felt that "in one-on-one situations, our guys had a slight edge." Harvard's skippers were seniors Clay Bischoff (Miami, Fla.) and Dan Litchfield (Wayland, Mass.), junior Cardwell Potts (New Orleans, La.), and freshman Vincent Porter (Geneva, Wis.). The Crimson's crews were seniors Lema Kikuchi (Bethesda, Md.) and Michelle Yu (Mountain View, Calif.), sophomore David Darst (Greenwich, Ct.) and freshman Ruth Schlitz (Falmouth, Mass.). Bischoff, Potts and Yu are returning All-Americans.

Championship Round
1. Harvard (5 wins - 2 losses)
2. St. Mary's (4-3)
3. University of Southern California (4-3)
4. Hobart / William Smith (4-3)
5. Tufts (3-4)
6. Dartmouth (3-4)
7. Georgetown (3-4)
8. U/Hawaii (2-5)
Consolation Round:
9. Texas A&M Galveston (4-1)
10. College of Charleston (4-1)
11. University of South Florida (3-2)
12. University of Washington (2-3)
13. University of Wisconsin (1-4)
14. University of Minnesota (1-4)

Fourteen teams qualified to sail in the regatta through regional eliminations. The participants were: 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.); St. Mary's College (St. Mary's City, Md.); Tufts University (Medford, Mass.); Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas); University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii); University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.); University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.); University of Southern California (Los Angeles, Calif.); University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.); University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)

The Team Racing North Americans was the second of three ICSA Spring Championships. The ICSA/Gill North American Dinghy Championship begins tomorrow. ICSA has a web site team on location throughout the regattas to provide updated coverage of the events as they happen. In addition to breaking news, the site features daily wrap-ups, and pictures of the festivities and racing. To catch up on all the latest action, please visit the special 2003 Championships area of the ICSA web site at http://www.collegesailing.org/2003