USF Sailing Along

TAMPA - The University of South Florida sailing team placed second in the 2011 South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing (SAISA) Women's Championship Regatta on Saturday, qualifying for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Sperry Top Sider Women's National Semifinals.

College of Charleston won the April 23 race, qualifying for the ICSA Sperry Top Sider Women's Nationals, while the Eckerd Tritons placed third and will join USF in the semifinals.

Skipper Abby Featherstone and crew Hillary Noble represented the Bulls in six of the A Division races (Nos. 1-2, 4-7) and Noble and Darby Smith paired up for the No. 3 race.

In A Division, Featherstone and Noble won the fifth race, were the runners up in the second and fifth, and were third in the Nos. 1 and 4 races, totaling just 20 points.

Rachael Silverstein and Stephanie Reynolds sailed all seven races of the B Division, winning the first and second race and ending with just 17 points for the day.

Saturday the bay waters had classic late-spring conditions, as winds stayed in the 8-12 knot range, slowly veering to south-southeast by noon, but remained through races 6A and 6B. Races 7A and 7B were finished just as the breeze completely collapsed, however. After a brief postponement due to lack of wind, the racing was called, as the afternoon forecast was for a light westerly seabreeze, arriving very late.

# School: A - B = TOT

1 College of Charleston Cougars 10 - 18 = 28

2 University of South Florida Bulls 20 - 17 = 37

3 Eckerd College Tritons 17 - 21 = 38

4 Clemson University Tigers 26 - 25 = 51

5 University of Miami Hurricanes 32 - 24 = 56