REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Stanford captured another conference title today, winning the PCCSC Team Race Sailing Championships for the eighth season in a row.
“We came into today heavily favored but it was definitely a tough event to get through,” said head coach John Vandemoer. “There were some tight races early on so it was great to make it to the final four and sail so well, the way I know we can.”
The Cardinal has now won all six PCCSC conference championships for the third consecutive season, including yesterday's coed championship.
“Having six different disciplines in college sailing is unique for a sport and it’s fantastic for our team since everyone participates,” added the seventh year Cardinal coach.
Teams were initially slated against one-another in a round-robin between all nine participating schools, followed by a four team round-robin based on winning percentage from the first round.
The Cardinal finished the opening round with a perfect 8-0 record and easily advanced to the final round. Joining Stanford in the finals were UC Santa Barbara, University of Southern California, and Hawaii.
Stanford continued its dominance in the final four with wins over Hawaii, USC, and UCSB. The Cardinal finished the day with a perfect 11-0 tally, good enough for their second conference championship in as many days.
“It feels great to go out on top again,” said senior Hans Henken. “We’ve met all of our goals up until now and are ready to go up to nationals and win another trophy.”
Returning to the lineup were senior skippers Kieran Chung and Henken, senior crew Haley Kirk and sophomore crew Nikki Obel. Chung and Kirk combined for seven wins in seven races on Friday, while Henken and Obel notched six wins from as many races on day one of the coed racing.
Junior skipper Antoine Screve and sophomore crew John Cannistraro made their second appearance of the weekend today after joining the action yesterday in the coed event. Rounding out the Cardinal and seeing their first races of the weekend were freshman skipper Will La Dow and junior crew Sammy Steele.
Stanford now turns it attention to the the 2015 ICSA Spring National Championships which will be held at the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
“The fight is still not over and we have to continue training hard,” said Screve, who gives much of the credit for Stanford’s success to the staff. “Coach Vandemoer has done a phenomenal job keeping this team on track all season long.”
For Vandemoer, it will be all about simplicity and discipline at nationals.
“We need to be able to make sure we sail with our heads on our shoulders,” he said. “We have the boat speed and we have the talent, so it’s important to sail smart and not get rattled by unfortunate situations.”
Nationals begin with the women’s championship on Monday, May 25, followed by team racing on Friday, May 29, and the coed competition on Monday, June first.
Next weekend, Stanford hosts two exhibition events. On Saturday, the Sun and Satisfaction races will take place, in which all collegiate sailing alumni are welcome. Sunday’s Alumni Regatta is open to all former Cardinal sailors.