Norfolk, Virginia (April 28, 2009) – A year after its successful introduction of a semifinal round and “brackets” to the spring-time competition for the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championship, ICSA (Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association) has announced the pairings for this year’s Western and Eastern Semifinals and has scheduled the two events to run concurrently from the Fan Pier in Boston, Mass., as part of the festivities surrounding the only North American stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race. From May 2-3, 2009, 36 college sailing teams -- which have been seeded into the Western or Eastern Semifinals based on their conference ranking – will race in FJs on Boston’s Inner Harbor.

There are 200 ICSA-member sailing teams in North America and to gain entry into this select group the 36 teams had to perform well enough in their conference (there are seven) to earn their spot in one of the two semifinal events: the ICSA National Championship Eastern Semifinals which are being hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.), and the ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals hosted by Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.). Sponsored by Marlow Ropes, PUMA and US SAILING, the short-course events will run simultaneously, with the top nine finishing schools from each event advancing to the grand finale of the year – the ICSA/Gill Coed National Championship which will be hosted in San Francisco, Calif., by Stanford University (Palo Alto) and the St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco) from June 1-3, 2009.

When ICSA adopted the new format in 2008, it was in an effort to accommodate the growing numbers of highly competitive college sailing teams. Not only has the addition of the semifinal round created a new level of excitement among the competitors, it has insured that a few dark horses will get a better shot at the ultimate title. Among the familiar top-ranked schools there are several newer faces competing at this level, including California Maritime Academy (Vallejo, Calif.), the University of St. Thomas (St. Thomas, Minn.) and the University of Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.). Cal Maritime, fourth-ranked in the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference, and University of St. Thomas, third-ranked in the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association, will both compete in the Western Semifinals. The University of Miami, fourth ranked in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association, will compete in the Eastern Semifinals.

“This is a great opportunity to show off college sailing,” said ICSA President Mitch Brindley (Norfolk, Va.). “Clearly there is a lot of excitement surrounding the integration into the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Boston for the semifinals, and then racing for the national title with the city of San Francisco as a backdrop. These two high profile locations are spectacular venues with plenty of access to see the action.”

ICSA is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. To learn more please visit: www.collegesailing.org. ICSA is sponsored by Gill, Annapolis Performance Sailing, Marlow Ropes, Quantum Sails, LaserPerformance and US SAILING: www.gillna.com, www.apsltd.com, www.bainbridgeint.com, www.quantumsails.com, www.laserperformance.com/main/ and www.ussailing.org

May 2-3, 2009 - ICSA National Championship Western Semifinals Hosted by Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) in FJs

Boston College (Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

California Maritime Academy (Vallejo, Calif.)

Connecticut College (New London, Conn.)

College of Charleston (Charleston, S.C.)

Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)

Hobart & William Smith Colleges (Geneva, N.Y.)

SUNY Maritime College (Throggs Neck, N.Y.)

University of Florida (Gainesville, Fla.)

University of Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)

University of Oklahoma (Norman, Ok.)

University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Penn.)

University of St. Thomas (St. Thomas, Minn.)

University of Wisconsin (Madison, Wis.)

University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, Fla.)

University of Texas (Austin, Texas)

Washington College (Chestertown, Md.)

Western Washington University (Bellingham, Wash.)

Yale University (New Haven, Conn.)

May 2-3, 2009 - ICSA National Championship Eastern Semifinals Hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.) in FJs

Boston University (Boston, Mass.)

Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, Fla.)

Georgetown University (Washington, D.C.)

Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Va.)

Roger Williams University (Bristol, R.I.)

St. Mary's College (St. Mary’s City, Md.)

Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.)

Texas A & M Galveston (Galveston, Texas)

Tufts University (Medford, Mass.)

Tulane University (New Orleans, La.)

U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Md.)

University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, Calif.)

University of Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.)

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.)

University of Vermont (Burlington, Vt.)

University of Washington (Seattle, Wash.)

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