Nov. 20, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Georgetown University sailing team competed in its fall championship regattas this weekend. In the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship hosted by the Hoyas, Georgetown finished first of 18 teams and took sixth of 18 teams at the Coed Atlantic Coast Championship at Hobart, in Geneva, N.Y.

Georgetown hosted some of the best teams in the nation for the Women's Atlantic Coast Sailing Championship, with 14 of the top 15 schools in the country participating and all of the top 10 participating. The Hoyas totaled 130 points for the championship and beat the second place team, Charleston (153), by 23 points. Yale placed third with 155 points, followed by Harvard (160) and Dartmouth (178) to finish out the top five.

The conditions for racing were some of the best and worst that the Potomac River has to offer. Racing started Saturday morning with South winds around 12 mph with gusts over 20. These conditions were ideal for the sailors and four A races and three B races were completed by 1:30 p.m. With a squall approaching, the teams had to hold off until Sunday. Sunday was a difficult day of sailing with Northwest winds of 20-30 mph. Many capsizes and broken boats slowed racing down, but the competitors were able to withstand the high winds.

Georgetown held the lead after day one but found themselves in as low as fifth in the morning, behind Yale, Harvard, Charleston and Boston College. However, the Hoyas rallied in the last four races to retake the lead.

In A Division Emily Babbitt (Dartmouth, Mass./Bishop Stang) and Ashley Phillips (Charleston, S.C./Ashley Hall) put the team into first overall with two races left. The last two races in B division saw Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif./Poly High School) and Ginger Cutler (New York, N.Y./Groton School) increase the lead and clinch the win for the Hoyas. The win was the first time the Hoyas have won the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship.

The weather on Seneca Lake in upstate New York played a vital role in the Coed Atlantic Coast Championship, only allowing 10 of the scheduled 36 races to be completed. There was heavy rain and no wind during Saturday's competition, and strong west winds and some early season snow fall on Sunday. The Hoyas finished in a respectable sixth place position, only 18 points out of first.

Sophomore Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) had another strong outing for the Hoyas. Buckingham partnered with All-American Carly Chamberlain (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) to finish second in the A division, just four points behind first place.

This concluded the fall season for the Hoyas. They will be back in action January 3-4 at the Rose Bowl Regatta in Long Beach, Calif.