Sailing Away to Nationals

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford sailing team embarks on a cross-country trip to Newport, Rhode Island, this weekend to compete in the ICSA National Championships. 
 
Co-hosted by Brown University and Regina Salve University, this year’s championships will take place at the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
 
First up will be the Sperry Women’s Nationals which is slated to begin on May 25th. Ranked ninth in the nation in women’s racing, Stanford joins 27 other schools in its chase for the Gerald C. Miller Trophy.
 
The youthful Stanford women’s sailors have won three of their last four events including the Duplin Women’s Team Race, the Bryson Women’s, and most recently the Carley Dole Memorial Women’s Conference Championships. 
 
“What the conference championship really helped us do was give us a lot of confidence in the depth of our women's team,” said seventh-year head coach John Vandemoer. “They’re sailing the best they have all year heading into nationals, and I think that’s really all you can ask of these young sailors.”
 
On May 29, the Laserperformance Team Race Nationals will begin, a discipline Stanford has been consistently prolific at this Spring. 
 
The Cardinal notched a victory at the Jeremy McIntyre Team Race to begin 2015, followed by a third place-finish at the Graham Hall Team Race. Stanford then bagged a second place-finish at the Aaron Szambecki Team Race, followed by another podium finish in third at the Lynne Marchiando Team Race. 
 
“We take a lot of pride in team racing,” said Vandemoer, whose Cardinal team racing unit ranks third in the nation. “We’re gunning for it in every discipline, but team racing is something we do a lot of, especially this time of year.”
 
The Cardinal captured the Carter Ford Team Race Conference Championship three weeks ago, going undefeated in the process and capturing its sixth PCCSC trophy of the season.
 
June first will mark the start of the season’s final competition, the Gill Coed Nationals. 

Stanford’s fifth-ranked coed squad enters nationals on the heels of three impressive performances. Most recently, Stanford dominated the Mark Healy Coed Conference Championship, winning every race in the process. 
 
Perhaps more impressively, however, were Stanford’s finishes at the Navy Spring and Boston Dinghy Club Challenge Cup, the latter being the oldest trophy in college sailing. 
 
Stanford’s third-place finish at the Navy Spring set up a spectacular win at the Dinghy Cup, which featured 18 of the best squads in the nation. Freshman skipper Will La Dow led the way, racking up 29 points with crew Samantha Steele in nine races. 
 
“It was a great confidence boost going into nationals,” said La Dow, a freshman from San Diego, who is prepared for a whole new experience. “I’ve been to high school nationals but this is obviously different with more days and longer days.” 
 
“It’s a really long stretch of time,” said senior captain Haley Kirk. “You tell yourself that before you go, but the key is to keep focus throughout the entire event.” 
 
For Kirk, heading east one last time to fight for college sailing’s most coveted prizes will be a special experience. 
 
“It’s been a long journey and I’m really excited for this, but for me it’s going to be surreal” said the Long Beach, California native. “I love sailing and nationals is a big reason for that.” 
 
Live scoring, stats, and results will be available at collegesailing.org throughout the course of the event.