United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Sailing

NEW LONDON, CT--(2/6/07)--The Coast Guard Academy sailing team, coming off one of their best fall seasons in several years, will start this year’s spring season ranked 12th in the country. The team had top finishes at major regattas in the fall, including a second at the Pine Trophy Intersectional, first at the New England Sloop Championship, and third place at the ICSA Sloop National Championship. In addition, the team finished fourth at the Erwin Schell Trophy, qualified for the prestigious Atlantic Coast Dinghy Championship for the first time since 2001, and finished eighth. These results, along with top finishes in many New England and intersectional regattas, earned the Bears the highest national ranking they have held in the past 15 years. The team will look to continue their success during the upcoming spring season.

Noel Shriner '08 and Emily Kehrt '09

This spring, the team will be led by skipper Rob Gorman ‘07 and crew Kyra Chin ’07 along with skipper Noel Shriner ‘08 and crew Emily Kehrt ’09. Skippers Chris Greenough ’07, the winning skipper at Sloop New Englands in the fall, and Ben Komar ’07, along with crews Abbey Lafond ’08 and Jenn Hom ’09, will join Gorman and Shriner for team race events, which are a huge part of the spring season schedule. Kehrt and Kevin Kuhn ’08 are the team’s newly elected captains and will help lead the team to consistent success for the next two seasons.

The season kicks off with two regattas at College of Charleston on back to back weekends with the Charleston Intersectional on February 17 & 18 and the Bob Bavier Team Race on February 24 & 25, followed by a Team Race Invite at Connecticut College on March 3 & 4. The Bears are currently meeting for coach’s talks after classes during the week to prepare for these and other upcoming regattas, in hopes of starting out the season with top finishes at every event.

With few opportunities to practice early in the season due to cold New England weather, the team will travel to the University of Miami during Spring Break to train. Two-a-day practices and team race talks during the week will allow the team to be fully prepared for the remainder of the season.

Following Spring Break, the season kicks into full gear with multiple regattas each weekend. Coast Guard will also serve as host to several regattas throughout the season. On March 31 & April 1, the Bears will co-host the Southern New England Team Race with Connecticut College, one of the biggest team races of the year in which 18 schools from all over the country will compete at the two venues. The Thompson Trophy, which is named after Rear Admiral Bernie E. Thompson, USCGA ’48, and Marie Thompson, Connecticut College ’50, and symbolizes the relationship that the two Thames River teams have had over the years, will be held at Coast Guard on April 21 & 22. The team will also host the Coast Guard Alumni Bowl, known as the New England Dinghy Championship on May 5 & 6. At that event, the Bears will hope to qualify for the ISCA National Championship to be held at the Naval Academy in late May.