College Sailing's Chalk Talk Season Finale: May 16, 2013

For the season finale, the Chalk Talk cast is throwing a banquet! It's the Chalk Talk Pre-Nationals Hypothetical All American Awards Banquet, to be precise. We look at the past year of college sailing and start naming names before the big dance begins next week in St. Petersburg, Fla.

US Sailing gave Chalk Talk a wonderful year of support, but they're not done! Starting Monday, check out US Sailing on Facebook and enter the photo caption contest for a Gill Drysuit!

Next week, watch Chris Love Productions' live coverage of Spring Nationals.
- Video highlights: May 23-24
- Live streaming video: May 26-27
- Text/photos throughout all events: May 21-30

Chalk Talk is presented by US Sailing, who reminds you that US Sailing offers a special college membership for a fraction of the cost of a full adult membership. Go to racing.ussailing.org/college for details.

Reflections from the President

A few years ago we finished a windy fall series race in the Great Lakes region and decided to sail back up to the weather mark where we thought we saw a capsized boat. It was choppy and the safety boats did not see them. After perhaps 30 minutes in the water, the three people were too cold to move or think. We pulled the coldest one aboard our Thistle, got their sails down and righted their boat, then towed their swamped boat with the other two guys in it to the yacht club, which luckily was downwind. Their distress and near disaster was a wake-up call for our team.
 
The loss of popular Olympic champion Andrew Simpson this week reminds us all that our favorite recreation can be dangerous. Sure, he was sailing in an extreme version of the sport, the speeds and forces profoundly exceeding what almost all of us encounter. We don’t yet know exactly what claimed Andrew Simpson. We know that the AC teams are serious about safety, but there is always some unmanageable risk. We do know, and most of us can immediately relate to, the obvious risks we see in this story - superhuman forces at work, entanglement under a boat, and cold water. 

US Sailing is the leading expert on safety and seamanship. Ten years ago, President Dave Rosekrans created a Safety Task Force at US Sailing to evaluate and re-design what we do. Our Safety at Sea Seminars are very highly rated and well-attended. We recently added Coastal Safety at Sea seminars. Keelboat cruisers and racers benefit from these training courses designed for offshore and coastal big boat sailors. The latest piece of this safety agenda is the new book, Safety, Rescue & Support Boat Handling, as part of our Powerboat Certification Series of books and courses. Highly-respected experts and considerable research drive our safety programs. No matter how nautically smart you are, you will learn something valuable reading this and attending a course. Check our course calendar for more information.

US Sailing has organized teams of experts to study five tragedies in the last two years. Read our reports and take action on your boat and at your home port sailing venue. 

The good news is that sailing has an excellent safety record compared to other water sports. We have by far the highest rate of PFD wearing among water sports, thanks to the younger generations who have grown up in a US Sailing training culture that makes wearing it the normal thing to do. The Coast Guard likes what we are doing in sail and power training and we have grants to broaden our efforts. But one death is too many; we can do better.  It starts with each of us being smart and disciplined about seamanship and safety. 

US Sailing is the source of expertise and training for boating under sail or power. Your support enables US Sailing to continue providing and improving the resources that make sailing a better and safer experience.

Tom Hubbell

President of US Sailing

College Sailing's Chalk Talk - May 9, 2013

It's the Nationals preview episode! With all 21 of the conference championships finally complete, we now know what the lineups will be in a few weeks in St. Pete. See a full rundown and take a look back at some Spring Nationals video from the past four years. Don't forget to tune in at http://new.livestream.com/collgesailingnationals starting May 21 with live video May 26-27.

It's also your last chance to win the Harken bag!
https://www.facebook.com/collegesailingchalktalk/app_228910107186452

Chalk Talk is presented by US Sailing, who reminds you that US Sailing offers a special college membership for a fraction of the cost of a full adult membership. Go to racing.ussailing.org/college for details.

College Sailing's Chalk Talk: May 2, 2013

The team takes a good, hard look at the 2013 ICSA Semifinals in this episode, with a breakdown of the over- and under- performers in Hampton this past weekend. They also look ahead to the final weekend of Conference Championships before Nationals.

Don't forget, the Christopher Williford Regatta is this weekend:
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Chalk Talk is presented by US Sailing, who reminds you that US Sailing offers a special college membership for a fraction of the cost of a full adult membership. Go to racing.ussailing.org/college for details.

Dave Perry's U.S. Match Racing Report

Sally Barkow Ranked #1 Match Racer in U.S.

Sally Barkow (Nashotah, Wis.), winner of the Carlos Aguilar Grade 2 Open Match in the U.S. Virgin Islands is the number one ranked match racer in the U.S. Ranked #2 is Don Wilson (Chicago, Ill.), winner of the Richardson Cup. Ranked third is Dustin Durant (Long Beach, Calif.), who will be representing the U.S. at the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Finale in Denmark in August. David Storrs (Southport, Conn.) is sixth, winner of the Long Island Sound Match Racing Championship, followed by Stephanie Roble (East Troy, Wis.) with a seventh place finish at the Carlos Aguilar, and Mike Quaglio who sails out of the Oakcliff Sailing Center in Oyster Bay, NY is #8.

Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.), Barkow and Genny Tulloch (San Francisco, Calif.) remain the top three U.S. women match racers. Nicole Breault (San Francisco, Calif.) and Sandy Hayes (Scituate, Mass.) move into the number six and seven spots. Breault, on the strength of her win in the California Dreamin’ Series, and Hayes with her win at the Nations Cup Regional Qualifier, will represent the U.S. at the Grand Finale in Denmark.

Open Rankings
1.    Sally Barkow       
2.    Donald Wilson       
3.    Dustin Durant       
4.    Dave Perry        
5.    Christopher Poole   
6.    David Storrs       
7.    Stephanie Roble       
8.    Mike Quaglio       
9.    Brad Funk            
10.  Jonathan Singsen   

Women Rankings
1.    Anna Tunnicliffe       
2.    Sally Barkow       
3.    Genny Tulloch       
4.    Stephanie Roble       
5.    Becca Dellenbaugh   
6.    Nicole Breault       
7.    Sandy Hayes       
8.    Maegan Ruhlman   
9.    Andrea Cabito       
10.  Shala Lawrence