Yale University has won the 2004 ICSA (Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association) Women’s North American Championship – a first for the prestigious Ivy League school. Women sailors from 18 colleges around the nation were in the Gorge from May 26-28 for the championship that was sailed in FJs, with each school fielding A and B-division teams. Both divisions sailed a 13-race series and saw three days of close competition on the Columbia River.

“I’m really excited for the girls,” said Yale sailing coach Zach Leonard (New Haven, Conn.). “We have a young team and they worked really hard. They didn’t over think it, they just kept working and getting better and better.”

On day one competitors faced an exciting afternoon after a squall brought rain and 15-20 knots of breeze, capsizing more than half the fleet during race four. A-division resumed racing, in 10-15 knots and light rain, completing two more races for the day. On the scoreboard, the US Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.) held the overall lead with 42 points, with Yale University in second, 10 points back. Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.) was third with 54 points.

With light rain and no wind, day two action did not get underway until late afternoon when 5-10 knots finally materialized from the west around 4:30 p.m. allowing B-division to get on the water for two races. A-division also sailed one race in the light westerly. Then, delayed by a general recall, that fleet’s second race was sailed in 10-12 knots. The day concluded, after two more races sailed by B-division, with each division counting eight races in the overall scoring.

Yale had a strong day two performance in A-division (1-12-4-1) courtesy of sophomore skipper Molly Carapiet (Belvedere, Calif.) sailing with juniors Jenn Hoyle (Manchester, Mass.) and Julie Papanek (Woodside, Calif./Chicago, Ill.). Yale’s B-division team — freshman Emily Hill (Miami, Fla.) and sophomores Meghan Pearl (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Sarah Himmelfarb (Portland, Maine) – added a consistent performance (3-8-3-6) that allowed Yale to finish the day by taking the overall lead from Navy, moving from 10 points behind to eight points ahead.

The final day of the series saw major movement after just the first two races had been sailed. Yale had increased their lead to nearly 20 points over Navy, and Hawaii had moved into third, 21 points back. Two other schools were also making their presence felt during those first two races of the day. Harvard sophomore skipper Genny Tulloch (Houston, Texas) with Laura Schubert (Bronx, N.Y.) and Diana Rodin (W Roxbury, Mass.), finished 1-18 in A-division; while sophomores Sloan Devlin (Mystic, Conn.) and Mallory Greimann (Wellesley, Mass.) were 10-1 in B-division. Tufts A-division team of skipper A.J. Crane (Warwick, Bermuda) and Kristen Tysell (Richmond, Calif.), both seniors, and freshman crew Gretchen Curtis (Marblehead, Mass.), placed 4-1 while the B-division team of junior Lindsay Shanholt (East Hampton, N.Y.) with senior Katie Shuman (Seattle, Wash.) finished 1-4. Over the remaining three races Yale solidified their lock on the title, while the fight for second and third place continued. When all was said and done, Yale had won the championship by 21 points over Harvard. Navy finished third overall, a further three points back.

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