UH sailors win national dinghy title

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i sailing team won its first coed national title in a breeze yesterday at the Intercollegiate Collegiate Sailing Association North American Dinghy Championships in Cascade Locks, Ore.

"They're elated," said Andy Johnson, UH's coach for the past 14 seasons. "There are almost 200 programs in the country and we're the best one."

UH compiled 181 points to beat Georgetown (210), Hobart/William Smith (222), Southern California (225) and Dartmouth (235) in 13-foot, two-person sailing vessels.

UH team members were Bryan Lake and Jennifer Warnock on the A team and Joey Pasquali, Matt Stine, Carly Allen, Cassandra Harris and Jeffrey Boyd on the B team. Lake and Warnock won the A division (88 points) while the B team took second (93).

UH entered the competition ranked No. 3 in the country with St. Mary's ranked No. 1.

"Once yesterday (Thursday's races) was over, it was ours to lose," Johnson said. "We needed to sail competitively and conservatively. We just needed to find Georgetown and St. Mary's and finish near them."

UH participated in 10 races yesterday. With 18 teams in each division, teams get one point for victory, two for second, three for third, etc.

This is UH's second national title in sailing. UH won the women's national championship in 2001.