Sailing Team

The final day of Severn Sailing Association's Laser Atlantic Coast Championship Regatta ended with a whimper off Annapolis yesterday afternoon.The only race that was attempted was abandoned in the face of an extremely light and dying wind, a strong flood tidal current, and a 20- to 25-degree wind shift that forced most of the fleet eastward into the mouth of the Severn River instead of south toward the first weather mark.In the absence of results yesterday, the regatta consisted only of Saturday's two races, falling one race short of the number required for an officially sanctioned championship.

Both the Naval Academy's Varsityy Offshore Sailing Team and its Intercollegiate Sailing Team distinguished themselves last weekend with impressive finishes in four regattas.Perhaps most prestigious was a win for the offshore sailors in the Kennedy Cup Regatta, sailed in Annapolis in Navy 44 sloops among 10 teams from across the nation. It was the first Navy win in this event since 1990.The Navy team was led by senior Oliver Vietor of Southport, Conn., whose sailing credits include last year's service as executive officer aboard the academy's Constellation on her winning race from Newport, R.I., to Bermuda.

A challenging five-race series for Optimist pram sailors, two separate divisions of 420 teams, and Lasers kept nearly 90 area young people busy for the better part of two days in the CBYRA Junior Open Championship Regatta, which was co-sponsored by Annapolis Yacht Club and Severn Sailing Association on Wednesday and Thursday.The biggest division was Optimists, which were sub-divided into Red, Blue and White fleets based on age for scoring purposes, although a single starting line was used for the 38-boat overall fleet.

The annual intercollegiate sailing season came to a close last week with the end of a 10-day series at the College of Charleston in Charleston, S.C., including the ICYRA Women's Nationals, the ICYRA Dinghy Nationals and the ICYRA Team Racing Nationals.When the series ended, the Naval Academy's Intercollegiate Sailing Team was honored with the prestigious Fowle Trophy, awarded to the team displaying the depth, consistency and versatility to be the top overall performer through a weighted-scoring, five-regatta series, including the three events at Charleston as well as the ICYRA Single-handed and Sloop Nationals earlier in the year.

SAN DIEGO -- When Paul Cayard hardens his sails at the starting gun to drive Italy up the beat in Leg 1 of the America's Cup today, he will not be the only American sailor aboard the red boat from Venice.Just behind Cayard's shoulder, the slim 33-year-old with a cap of curly brown hair and owlish glasses is Robert Hopkins, a native of Manchester, Mass., who is the technical brain trust of the Il Moro syndicate.When Cayard got the final word that he would be Raul Gardini's skipper and team leader, one of the first calls he made was to Hopkins, a U.S. Olympic coach who still considers himself part of the Manchester Sailing Association.

18 to 20 knots -- at St. Mary's City last Sunday, 10 schools competed in a Middle Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association regatta to earnthe right to compete in the SSA's national championships in May at the Naval Academy.Top honors in the fleet went to Middle Township High School of New Jersey, represented by A team skipper Jay Koch andB team skipper Don Echevarria.The team from St. Mary's High School in Annapolis, with the brother/sister team of Myles and Tracy Conway in the A Division and Karen Coe and Carolyn Manion sailing in B, placed second and also qualifiedfor the nationals.

The Midshipmen, sailing coaches, officers and personnel at the NavalAcademy Sailing Squadron enjoyed one of their winningest months in October.The season's race results place them in the top ranks of the Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association schools. A national ranking from Sailing World is anticipated soon.The Naval Academy's Varsity Offshore team performed well also andtook several prize trophies within the CBYRA.On Oct. 5-6, Navy won the Danmark trophy at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's 50th Danmark Regatta.

J.J. ISLER OF SAN Diego is the first female skipper to sail in the Columbus Cup, and she is coming in a winner to the third annual big-boat yacht racing event being contested next week in Baltimore.Not only did Isler win the inaugural all-female Santa Maria Cup in Baltimore just this past May, in J-22 sloops, but she began beating male competitors a long time ago.Her brother Trevor was an early victim, Isler recalls over the phone from Newport Beach, Calif., where she is competing this weekend in the North American Championships in the 470 Olympic dinghy-racing class.

Since 1985, the biennial Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship, organized by the U.S. Yacht Racing Union with the Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport, R.I., as host, has been a milestone in women's sailing.Contested in J/24s, the regatta typically attracts the top women sailors from across the nation and around the world, and thisyear was no exception.Among the 46 skippers leading this year's teams were former RolexYachtswomen of the Year Betsy Allison, J. J. Isler, Heidi Backus Riddle and Jody Swanson.

It's been a long time coming, but last week the U.S. Naval Academy'sIntercollegiate Sailing Team scored an impressive coup.Team members conquered all of the other top collegiate dinghy teams in the country and won the National Intercollegiate Championships at Tulane University in New Orleans. It was the first time in the event's history that Navy swept all three events of the regatta.Racing was in 420s out of Southern Yacht Club on Lake Pontchartrain.First was the Women's Nationals, which was won by Navy when A Division skipper Susie Minton, with Julie Kohl as her crew, topped out that division for the second year in a row. An excellent performance by B skipper Cynthia Williams clinched the women's title.