UH will host 2002 sailing championships

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

This year, college sailing's championship returns to its birthplace on the Charles River in Boston. Next year, it goes where no collegiate national sailing championship has gone before.

The University of Hawai'i women's and coed sailing teams will travel to the East Coast in search of a national championship. Advertiser library photo

The University of Hawai'i would like nothing better than to win a national championship during the interim.

The Wahine compete in the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) North Americans on May 29-31. UH's coed team goes to the ICSA/Ronstan Team Race North Americans, June 3-5, and the ICSA Dinghy North Americans, June 6-8.

Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology co-host the first two, while the third will be run off Point Judith in Rhode Island. It is a long way from home by every definition, but the Rainbows can travel in comfort. They know they have a legitimate shot at top-five finishes, particularly this first week where they go in ranked fifth, and especially next year when nearly everyone is back, and back home.

"By being in the top five, that puts you in a position where you have a chance to win," says coach Andy Johnson, who characterizes this as his best women's team. "When you get to that level, there's not a whole lot of difference between the teams. Then you just need a little luck."

Johnson will take seven women and two men back east, including five district all-stars — Josh Henrich, Brent Harrill, Jennifer Warnock, Sarah Hitchcock and Molly O'Bryan — and freshman Marin Diskant, who won eight races in the district qualifier

His roster has 23 sailors from eight states, including Arizona and South Dakota; the half dozen from Hawai'i range from Mililani to Honoka'a to Makawao.

"A lot of them are really young, which is fantastic for the next four years," says Johnson, who grew up in Minnesota and played varsity ice hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire before transferring to UH-Manoa to sail and study in warm weather.

In his 12 years, he has coached an Olympian — Kailua's John Myrdal — and 10 All-Americans. When asked to list premier sailors' top three traits, Johnson does not hesitate.

"They have a good understanding of tactics and how they interact with the rules," Johnson says. "Also, an innate sense of wind shifts. And, just a good work ethic."

His team is just as quick to answer, but not always in agreement. All mention the work ethic, then include conditioning, experience, consistency and good coaching.

"You can make a boat go fast, but completely in the wrong direction," says O'Bryan, an honorable mention All-America last year.

First-year sailor Ann Feeley-Summerl goes back to the basics of awareness, communication and listening, not just to teammates, but the boats around you.

Henrich emphasizes sportsmanship. "The better sailors are better sportsmen," he says. He pauses. "And very competitive."

Those traits are often mutually exclusive, but it is a fine line the Rainbows would love to sail the next few weeks.

• SAILING SHORTS: Collegiate sailing involves more than 200 teams, from the Ivy League to Texas and Stanford, and many watery spots in between. It does not allow scholarships, to "encourage an environment of competitive equity." ... Molly O'Bryan has been voted the team's Most Inspirational the past two years. ... Josh Henrich is the grand nephew of poet Alfred Lloyd Tennyson. ... To host the 2002 nationals, the sailing team is in the process of buying 18 new boats. It has raised $90,000 and is close to its goal. ... Honolulu's Kaya Haig was an All-American last year for Boston College. UH coach Andy Johnson calls her one of the top five female sailors in college, along with O'Bryan.