March 22, 2004
WC Sailors Win OCC Spring Open
Washington First in Both Divisions

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- The Washington College sailing team finished first of 18 teams by a wide margin this weekend at the Collegis OCC Spring Open, hosted by Ocean County College. Washington 75 points in front of second-place Ocean County to win the regatta.

WC finished first in both A Division and B Division at the event. In A Division, sophomore skipper Carl Horrocks (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro) and freshman crew Nat Thompson (Frederick, MD/Westtown, PA) finished 18 points ahead of second-place Ocean County.

Junior skipper Chad Hillyer (Summit, NJ/Morristown-Beard) and freshman crew Vanessa Anderson (Narragansett, RI/The Prout School) were 36 points better than second-place Georgetown in B Division.

Saturday's racing began in moderate conditions with the winds building from the southwest to 18 knots in the afternoon. Eighteen races were completed . The final two B Divisions races were sailed Sunday morning. Extreme winds created unsafe and equipment-damaging conditions. With a forecast for sustained winds throughout the day, the race committee decided to abandon racing for Sunday after sailing the two B division races. After a short postponement, the regatta ended at 11:30 a.m.

Next weekend, the WC sailors will compete at the Owen Trophy, hosted by Brown.