At an awards ceremony following racing for the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championship at Sail Newport Sailing Center at Ft. Adams, the honors for the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year, Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award sponsored by US Sailing and the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy for the Best Overall Team were presented. The names of the winners will be added to the ICSA Hall of Fame display located in the Robert Crown Center at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
The Everett B. Morris Trophy is awarded annually to the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year for outstanding performance at the highest level of sailing in the collegiate year. The trophy is named in memory of a distinguished journalist who spent more than 30 years, as a yachting writer and editor.
This year there were three finalists for the prestigious award: Nicholas Baird (St. Petersburg, Fla.) Yale University ’19, Augie Dale (Pewaukee, Wis.) College of Charleston ’19 and Christopher Williford (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Dartmouth College ’19.
Today was the last day of the Gill College Sailing Coed National Championship, the final of three high caliber spring college sailing national championships that were run out of host site Sail Newport Sailing Center at Fort Adams by host school Brown University with support from Dartmouth College and NEISA. It was very close racing in the harbor today in Newport, R.I. and it was not until the last beat of the last race that the College of Charleston came out on top winning the national title and the Henry A. Morss Memorial Trophy.
A wind delay this morning kept sailors onshore until enough filled in to have a 12:10 p.m. harbor start. Winds filled in from the southeast and stayed light to moderate in the afternoon. The last races of the day brought some stronger pressure and hiking conditions. There were big oscillating shifts across the racecourse challenging the sailors to stay in phase and sail fast.
