Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association

Last updated
Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association
AbbreviationICSA
Legal statusAssociation
Headquarters Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Region served
United States and Canada
President
 Mitchell Brindley
Website collegesailing.org

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America (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. It was founded in 1937 as the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association, and changed to it current name in 2001.

Contents

History

19th century

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 at the University of Oxford in 1884 followed by the Cambridge University Yacht Club at the University of Cambridge in 1893, the Harvard University Yacht Club in 1894, and Brown University Yacht Club in 1896. [1]

20th century

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, now known as the McMillan Cup. [4] [5] [6]

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) [7] was formed June 16, 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. There was also a major sailing event between Princeton and Dartmouth in 1934, but details of its format are not recorded. [4]

The initial emphasis of the ICYRA 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 1937, 19 colleges took part in another ICYRA dinghy regatta at the MIT Pavilion. [11] The Morss Trophy was also first awarded in 1937, being won by MIT [12] [13]

Following World War II, collegiate sailing spread across the U.S. and parts of Canada, with ICYRA 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. The University of Rhode Island was the first winner of the current team racing championship in 1977. [15]

21st century

In 2001 the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association became the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association to better reflect the breadth of ships used in competition. In 2011, a group of Canadian University teams formed the Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Association (CICSA), based on the ICSA's model. CICSA's two most successful teams, Queen's University and McGill University, also compete in the ICSA. [16]

Teams

278 schools are listed in the ICSA team database, and over 170 are currently active. 34 schools have launched fully funded varsity teams, with the rest being club teams.

Varsity teams include:


Active club teams include:

Structure

There are 7 conferences with 200 teams competing in college sailing. The conferences within ICSA schedule and administer regattas within their established regions: [17]

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

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 [18] was established in 1969. The Hall of Fame is located in the Robert Crown Sailing Center [19] 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:

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 was an official partner of ICSA for many years and the boatbuilder annually sponsored the ICSA National Championships. More recently, LaserPerformance was the official sponsor.

Related Research Articles

Team racing, also known as team sailing, is a popular form of dinghy racing and yacht racing. Two teams compete in a race, each sailing two to four boats of the same class. The winning team is decided by combining the results of each team's boats. This differs from an inter-club fleet race where boats from three or more clubs compete, with the results of each club's boats combined to determine its overall position.

Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College rowing in the United States</span> Team sport version of rowing practiced by universities in the United States

Rowing is the oldest intercollegiate sport in the United States. The first intercollegiate race was a contest between Yale and Harvard in 1852. In the 2018–19 school year, there were 2,340 male and 7,294 female collegiate rowers in Divisions I, II and III, according to the NCAA. The sport has grown since the first NCAA statistics were compiled for the 1981–82 school year, which reflected 2,053 male and 1,187 female collegiate rowers in the three divisions. Some concern has been raised that some recent female numbers are inflated by non-competing novices.

The South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA) is a conference in the Intercollegiate Sailing Association and was founded April 25, 1964. SAISA encompasses a geographic area that includes Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and northern Alabama. There are 33 active members, which include both public and private universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association</span>

The New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) is one of the seven conferences affiliated with the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) that schedule and administer regattas within their established geographic regions.

Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (MAISA) is one of the seven conferences affiliated with the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association that schedule and administer regattas within their established geographic regions.

The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) holds National Championships in seven different categories:

The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's open weight rowing. It is the direct successor to the Rowing Association of American Colleges, the first collegiate athletic organization in the United States, which operated from 1870–1894.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buccaneer Yacht Club</span> Sailing club in Mobile Bay, Alabama, United States

Buccaneer Yacht Club is a member-run sailing club which has operated out of Mobile Bay, Alabama since 1928. It is a member club of the Gulf Yachting Association and the United States Sailing Association. Its members are active competitors in Finn, Viper 640, 420, Fish class sloop, Flying Scot, Laser, Optimist, Sunfish, PHRF and Portsmouth class events. While the Mobile Yacht Club predates it, BucYC remains arguably the oldest continuously operating sailing club in Alabama.

The Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference (PCCSC) is one of the seven conferences within the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, the governing body for collegiate competition in the sport of sailing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Longhorns sailing</span> Texas sailing team

The University of Texas Sailing Team is a nationally competitive club sports team at the University of Texas at Austin. Their goal is to expand the love and knowledge of competitive sailing throughout the university community and their conference at large.

The first tier of intercollegiate sports in the United States includes sports that are sanctioned by one of the collegiate sport governing bodies. The major sanctioning organization is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Before mid-1981, women's top-tier intercollegiate sports were solely governed by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Smaller colleges are governed by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Two-year colleges are governed by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) in most of the country, except for the unaffiliated California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) and Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coast Guard Bears</span> Intercollegiate sports teams

The United States Coast Guard Academy's intercollegiate sports teams are called the Bears. They compete in NCAA Division III as members of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. Through the 2016 season, the Bears played football in the New England Football Conference, but after that season moved their football program into the NEWMAC, which started sponsoring the sport in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Seahawks</span> Athletic teams representing St. Marys College of Maryland

The St. Mary's Seahawks are the intercollegiate athletic teams of St. Mary's College of Maryland, located in St. Mary's City, Maryland, that they are members in the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the United East Conference for most of their sports since the 2021–22 academic year.; except for rowing, which they compete in the Mid-Atlantic Rowing Conference (MARC); and for sailing, which they compete in the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (MAISA) within the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA).

The Leonard M. Fowle Trophy is a sailing trophy awarded annually by the Intercollegiate Sailing Association to the best overall collegiate team.

ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship or ICSA Open Fleet Race Nationalsis is the oldest and most prestigious of the American Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Bulldogs sailing</span> College sailing program

The Yale Bulldogs sailing team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The team is a member of the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association, which is part of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Crimson sailing</span>

The Harvard University sailing team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The team is a member of the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association, which is part of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown Bears sailing</span> College sailing program

The Brown University sailing team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The team is a member of the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association, which is part of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Florida Bulls sailing</span>

The South Florida Bulls sailing team represents the University of South Florida in the sport of sailing. The team competes in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association within the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association. The Bulls are coached by Allison Jolly, a member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame and gold medalist in the first Olympic women's sailing event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. She has coached the team since 2004. The team's home venue is within Tampa Bay, at the Donald A. Haney Landing Sailing Center on the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus. It is the university's only varsity sport based on the St. Petersburg campus.

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 Records of the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association (ICYRA)
  5. ↑ "Trophy section of US Naval Academy website (Main → McMillan Cup)". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  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. ↑ Inter-Collegiate Regatta Origins Archived 2013-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "Trophy section of US Naval Academy website (ICYRA → Morss Trophy)". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  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. ↑ "CICSA National Events". Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Association.
  17. ↑ Schools
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ See: Navy Midshipmen § Sailing (intercollegiate), Navy Midshipmen § Facilities, and Facilities: Robert Crown Sailing Center Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine . Naval Academy Varsity Athletics official website. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
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