Photo courtesy of Haley Pemberton ’23
For the second straight season, both the Connecticut College Coed and Women’s Sailing teams have qualified for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Fleet Racing National Championships. It was announced via social media on the night of Tuesday, May 2nd, that the two squads would be competing at the highest stage of college sailing in late May and early June at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point, NY. This is just the third time in Head Coach Jeff Bresnahan’s 31-year tenure that both teams have qualified for their national championship.
This announcement came on the heels of the Coed team’s final regatta of the season, where Conn hosted the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) fleet race conference championship regatta at the brand-new waterfront. The Camels finished 7th out of 18 teams, a strong result to end the regular season in a challenging regatta featuring many of the country’s best teams. The NEISA Championship served as Camel Sailing’s senior day, and the team will be graduating nearly half of the roster once the season ends. Parents and students alike came down to the waterfront to watch the competitive and entertaining races, and enjoyed the barbeque and “Sailgate” put on by the Camel Sailors and their families.
The strong showing at NEISA Championships solidified the berth at Nationals beyond doubt. In both the Coed and Women’s divisions of College Sailing, the best 36 teams across ICSA’s seven regional conferences qualify for nationals. The conference that the Camels compete in, NEISA, is renowned as the most competitive and challenging of the seven. Once selected for nationals, the teams are split into two semifinal regattas, consisting of 18 teams each. The top nine in each semifinal advance to the finals, where the national champion is eventually crowned.
The women’s team was placed as the 29th seed in the Women’s National Championship, and the Coed team was placed as the 19th seed in their division. Both teams will remain on campus after graduation to train for the regattas. The Women’s team will compete at King’s Point from May 23rd to 26th, and the Coed team will compete from May 30th to June 2nd. In addition to qualifying for both National Championships, it was announced that senior skipper Walter Henry was named the NEISA Sportsperson of the Year, and senior crew Allie Tillinghast was an all NEISA Second Team Crew. Congratulations and go Camels! Sail Fast!
