Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is a volunteer organization that serves as the governing authority for all sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada.

Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association
AbbreviationICSA
Legal statusAssociation
HeadquartersNorfolk, Virginia, United States
Region served
United States and Canada
President
Mitchell Brindley
Websitecollegesailing.org

History

The first college sailing club to be formed in the United States was the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, established in Branford, Connecticut in 1881, three years before the founding of the Oxford University Yacht Club in the United Kingdom in 1884 (followed by Cambridge University Yacht Club in 1893, Harvard University Yacht Club in 1894, and Brown University Yacht Club in 1896).[1] Harvard and Yale held a sailing event in 1911,[2][3] but this was a long-distance 'cruise' rather than a fleet or team race, and only one Yale yacht attended the event. Organized intercollegiate fleet racing began in 1928 between just a few schools in Eight-Metres for the Oliver Hay Trophy, what is now the McMillan Cup.[4][5][6]

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA)[7] was formed June 16th, 1930, as the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association (ICYRA).

The first inter-collegiate dinghy fleet event, the Boston Dinghy Club Challenge Cup, took place with 34 entrants in 1930 (in parallel with the founding of the ICYRA), and there was also a dinghy event between Princeton and Dartmouth in 1934, but details of its format are not recorded.[4]

The initial emphasis of the ICSA was very much on fleet racing, rather than team racing, but during the 1930s, team racing between individual colleges started to emerge, with 2 to 4 colleges meeting up, each fielding 2 to 5 boats. Collegiate dinghy sailing blossomed in 1934–36 with initiatives taken by Princeton with its 'Tiger' dinghies (1934),[4] MIT (the famous Pavilion was founded and built in 1935 at the instigation of Walter C. "Jack" Wood),[8] and Brown (1936).[1] The first ICSA dinghy fleet regatta took place in the spring of 1937 at the MIT Pavilion and was won by MIT,[9] with Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, Williams, and Yale also competing.[10] In the fall of the same year (1937) no less than 19 colleges took part in another ICSA dinghy regatta at the MIT Pavilion.[11] The coveted Morss Trophy was also first awarded in 1937, being won by MIT[12][13]

After World War II collegiate sailing spread across the US and parts of Canada, with ICSA membership rapidly growing to modern numbers. George O’Day (Harvard), Harry Anderson (Yale) and Bill Cox Sr. (Princeton) helped develop the ICYRA team race rules in the 1940s, and these were the forerunners of the NAYRU (now US Sailing) and International Yacht Racing Union (later International Sailing Federation) team race rules.

A regional team racing championship, four-a-side format, first took place in 1950 in the New England District for the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy, a separate trophy from the new Fowle Trophy that is awarded to the best overall collegiate team.[14] National team racing for the Walter Cromwell Wood Bowl, four-a-side format, commenced in 1970 between teams formed with sailors within a particular ICSA district or 'conference', and, since 1977, individuals from one college. Rhode Island University was the first winner of the current team racing championship in 1977.[15]

Teams

36 schools launch fully funded varsity teams, while the other 164 are club teams. Varsity teams are:

Structure

There are 7 conferences with 200 teams competing in college sailing. The conferences within ICSA schedule and administer regattas within their established regions:[16]


Each conference is supervised by a Graduate Secretary and an Executive Committee, which comprises both graduate and undergraduate students. Both the Graduate Secretary and the Executive Committee are elected by representatives from each school in the conference. Each conference conducts local and intersectional regattas and holds district championships in both the fall and the spring.

Championships
Main article: Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Championships

The conference or district championships allow schools to qualify for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championships.

ICSA College Sailing Hall of Fame

The ICSA College Sailing Hall of Fame[17] was established in 1969. The Hall of Fame is located in the Robert Crown Sailing Center[18] at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

ICSA Hall of Fame Awards

There are several awards that are bestowed upon collegiate sailors at the end of every full racing season:

  • College Sailor of the Year
  • Women’s College Sailor of the Year
  • Robert H. Hobbs Sportsmanship Award
  • All American Skipper
  • All American Woman Skipper
  • All American Crew
  • All Academic Team

Participation

ICSA seeks to promote the sport of sailing throughout North America and encourage participation in the sport among young people. Although both varsity and club teams compete fiercely to qualify for district championships and nationals, the overall goal is to promote sailing and have fun on the water. Thus, most college sailing programs do not require previous sailing experience and encourage widespread participation among students. However, most schools also value students who have high school sailing experience.

Instruction

As education and training have been two cornerstones of the ICSA since its inception most college sailing programs offer general instruction to the student body, and in some cases the general public. Often college sailing programs serve to introduce many people to the sport of sailing.

Many college sailors have gone on to race in the America's Cup as well as in the Olympics.

Corporate Partners

Vanguard Sailboats has been an official partner of ICSA for many years and the boatbuilder annually sponsors the ICSA National Championships.

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References
  1. Sailing history page of Encyclopaedia Brunoniana website
  2. Harvard Crimson Archives of 1911
  3. Yale Daily News, Volume XXXIV, No 172, Wednesday, May 10, 1911
  4. Records of the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association (ICYRA)
  5. Trophy section of US Naval Academy website (Main --> McMillan Cup)
  6. McMillan Cup)
  7. Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) website
  8. History page of MIT Sailing website
  9. New York Times, April 26, 1937, Page 25
  10. Cornell Daily Sun, Volume 57, Number 153, 1 May 1937
  11. MIT newspaper 'The Tech', Volume LVII, No. 42, November 9, 1937
  12. Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine Inter-Collegiate Regatta Origins
  13. Trophy section of US Naval Academy website (ICYRA --> Morss Trophy)
  14. Trophy section of US Naval Academy website (ICYRA --> Fowle Trophy)
  15. Personal communication in late 2013 from Ken Legler, Sailing Coach at Tufts
  16. Schools
  17. ICSA College Sailing Hall of Fame webpage. ICSA website. Retrieved 2011-01-08. All-American and Hall of Fame Awards Archived 2007-04-10 at the Wayback Machine webpage. ICSA website. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  18. See: Navy Midshipmen § Sailing (intercollegiate), Navy Midshipmen § Facilities, and Facilities: Robert Crown Sailing Center. Naval Academy Varsity Athletics official website. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
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