Eagles Grab 20th National Title

CORONA DEL MAR, Calif. - The Boston College sailing team won the 2018 ICSA Match Racing National Championship, defeating the University of Pennsylvania 3-2 in a best of 5 final series Sunday afternoon. Senior skipper Wade Waddell, along with crew of freshman Jack DeNatale and seniors Tara Ferraris and Peter Lynn sailed for the Eagles. This marks the second consecutive Match Racing title for BC.

Ten teams qualified for the National Championship through their respective Conference Championships. The BC squad got off to a strong start early on Friday, winning their first four races of the round robin. The squad lost two of their final three races to close out the first day of racing.

Wins against Jacksonville and the College of Charleston, along with a last minute come-from behind-victory against Stanford at the end of the round robin on Saturday had the Eagles seeded second going into the quarter-finals. The Eagles won two in a row against seventh-seed Wisconsin in their best of three quarter final match to advance to the semis. BC went on to close out their undefeated day on Saturday by beating Stanford in the first race of the best of three semi-finals.

With another win over Stanford to start the day on Sunday, the Eagles advanced to the finals and a shot at defending the Match Racing National Championship. The University of Pennsylvania upset the No. 1-seed SUNY Maritime to secure their berth in the best-of-five finals. BC won the first race to take the early lead, but Penn quickly evened the score at 1-1. The Eagles took the third race of the series and had a chance to win the series going into race four. BC controlled Penn off the starting line and held a comfortable lead up the first leg of the course. A mental error on the BC boat saw the Eagles round the incorrect mark at the end of the first leg and what had looked like the championship-winning race for BC turned into a victory for Penn, forcing a winner-take all final race.

Aggressive sailing prior to the start of the final race saw both boats over the starting line early. Excellent crew work from captains Tara Ferraris and Peter Lynn, along with freshman Jack DeNatale allowed the BC boat to return the proper side of the start line ahead of Penn and gave BC the early lead. Skipper Wade Waddell and the BC crew remained in control of the race and extended BC's lead around the course. The Eagles crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of Penn to take the finals 3-2 and claim the 2018 ICSA Match Racing National Championship.

This is the second consecutive year the Eagles have won the Match Racing National Title and the third in program history, having also won in 2009. This weekend's Championship also marks the 20th National Title won by the Boston College sailing team, having won multiple titles in each of college sailing's six Championship disciplines - all since 2008.

Boston College Sailing National Championships:
2008 Women's Champions
2008 Team Racing Champions
2008 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2009 Team Racing Champions
2009 Sloop* Champions
2009 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2010 Coed Champions
2010 Match Racing Champions
2011 Coed Champions
2011 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2012 Women's Champions
2012 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2013 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2014 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2016 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2016 Men's Singlehanded Champions
2017 Women's Singlehanded Champions
2017 Match Race Champions
2018 Women's Champions
2018 Match Race Champions

* - Sloop Championship became Match Race Championship in 2010

Detailed results.

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Players Mentioned

Jack DeNatale

Tara Ferraris

Peter Lynn

Wade Waddell

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