Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Robert Migliaccio
Winning Tradition Anchoring Sailing's Nationals Bids
May 15, 2018 | Sailing, #ForBoston Files
Eagles head into the ICSA National Championships in search of repeat success.
The Boston College sailing program is built by its tradition of excellence. Its 18 national championships have made it one of the school's most storied programs, and the victories created a legacy of success used to invigorate each successive season.
So when the Eagles needed to perform under pressure, they knew exactly what to do. Sailing in three different disciplines, BC qualified for the national championships in each one with two conference championship trophies earned for its effort.
"That's the biggest benchmark we've had so far for pressure performances," head coach Greg Wilkinson said. "We won the women's conference championship and coed conference championship, and we won a qualifier in the last race of the team racing championship. So we were put into pressure situations, and I'm very happy with how this team came together. It puts us into preparation mode for another one at the national championships."
BC winning a conference championship in sailing isn't a surprise, but it took a special kind of effort exemplified by individuals racing for the team. The team of Scott Sinks, Alice Bohan and Tara Ferraris used a second place finish in the fourth race to jumpstart a run in which it won once and lower than second only once. The trio wound up fourth overall, combining with the B Division-winning team of Wade Waddell, Emmy Perry and Katharine Bowman to list the Eagles over Roger Williams by 18 points.
It followed a week in which the women's team dominated en route to its own NEISA crown. BC won the A Division with 27 points, and the team score steamrolled the competition by nearly 20 points on its own.
"I've got a group of kids who are goal-oriented and hold themselves to high standards that they set for themselves," said Wilkinson, who won the NEISA Coach of the Year. "The process of getting to where we are right now has been their focus all year long. Their preparation process have proven successful, and now they're in the final part of making that run at the titles. This is what they work for all year long."
The team's run to glory wasn't always a foregone conclusion. Though the team won the ICSA Match Race National Championship, the fall proved itself a little disappointing. The women's team ascended towards the top of the college sailing world, but the coed season seemed heading for disappointment as the team broke for its winter hiatus in November.
That's when athletic director Martin Jarmond met with the team. His meeting, combined with the team's leadership and motivated attitude, helped propel them through the spring training season and back to top form in time for a run at prospective national titles.
"We're really lucky that we have very strong leadership from our captains and senior class," Wilkinson said. "That's where all credit is due. We had a lackluster fall season in coed team performance. We were great individually, but the coed side was disappointing in the fall. Martin Jarmond met with the team earlier this winter and all but said that. We experienced a turnaround shortly thereafter, and that's all on the (team's performance)."
It's owing to the realization that sailing has one of the best winning cultures both on campus at Chestnut Hill and in the nation. The team routinely turns out some of the best individual sailors in the country, including senior Charlie Sinks, a finalist for Coed Sailor of the Year.
Junior Wade Waddell joined Sinks as first team All-NEISA skippers, and both senior Alice Bohan and junior Emma Perry earned all-NEISA coed crew second team honors.
"We leverage our success into keeping a winning culture going," Wilkinson said. "Having this winning culture is such a key component. When you have people who know what it takes, they're able to pass it down. In this cycle that we're on, you have a whole generation of athletes that can make winning contagious. Or at least that's what we're hoping for, and we'll find out in a couple of weeks."
That's when the Eagles head to the national championships for three disciplines Memorial Day Weekend. The NCAA Women's National Championship is on May 22-25, with the Team Race discipline following on May 26-28. It ends with the Coed National Championship beginning on May 29 and ending on June 1.
In the women's division, BC is seeded in the Western Semifinals along with a number of national powerhouses. Along with Georgetown and Dartmouth, BC will also have to deal with a number of warm-weather schools from California and Hawaii, along with both the US Coast Guard Academy and Navy.
It's a trend that will continue in the coed and team race competitions when BC draws Ivy League powers like Dartmouth and Yale, among others.
"We get on the water from September to mid-November in Boston, then again immediately after spring break," Wilkinson said. "Our competition season begins at the exact same time. We travel for the entire spring break and turn that into a training session. We train twice a day and turn that into our effort to make up for the fact that our competition in the South can practice in early to mid-February. We always look to ramp up our performance through the spring so we can be hitting our stride (during this time of year)."
Â
So when the Eagles needed to perform under pressure, they knew exactly what to do. Sailing in three different disciplines, BC qualified for the national championships in each one with two conference championship trophies earned for its effort.
"That's the biggest benchmark we've had so far for pressure performances," head coach Greg Wilkinson said. "We won the women's conference championship and coed conference championship, and we won a qualifier in the last race of the team racing championship. So we were put into pressure situations, and I'm very happy with how this team came together. It puts us into preparation mode for another one at the national championships."
BC winning a conference championship in sailing isn't a surprise, but it took a special kind of effort exemplified by individuals racing for the team. The team of Scott Sinks, Alice Bohan and Tara Ferraris used a second place finish in the fourth race to jumpstart a run in which it won once and lower than second only once. The trio wound up fourth overall, combining with the B Division-winning team of Wade Waddell, Emmy Perry and Katharine Bowman to list the Eagles over Roger Williams by 18 points.
It followed a week in which the women's team dominated en route to its own NEISA crown. BC won the A Division with 27 points, and the team score steamrolled the competition by nearly 20 points on its own.
"I've got a group of kids who are goal-oriented and hold themselves to high standards that they set for themselves," said Wilkinson, who won the NEISA Coach of the Year. "The process of getting to where we are right now has been their focus all year long. Their preparation process have proven successful, and now they're in the final part of making that run at the titles. This is what they work for all year long."
The team's run to glory wasn't always a foregone conclusion. Though the team won the ICSA Match Race National Championship, the fall proved itself a little disappointing. The women's team ascended towards the top of the college sailing world, but the coed season seemed heading for disappointment as the team broke for its winter hiatus in November.
That's when athletic director Martin Jarmond met with the team. His meeting, combined with the team's leadership and motivated attitude, helped propel them through the spring training season and back to top form in time for a run at prospective national titles.
"We're really lucky that we have very strong leadership from our captains and senior class," Wilkinson said. "That's where all credit is due. We had a lackluster fall season in coed team performance. We were great individually, but the coed side was disappointing in the fall. Martin Jarmond met with the team earlier this winter and all but said that. We experienced a turnaround shortly thereafter, and that's all on the (team's performance)."
It's owing to the realization that sailing has one of the best winning cultures both on campus at Chestnut Hill and in the nation. The team routinely turns out some of the best individual sailors in the country, including senior Charlie Sinks, a finalist for Coed Sailor of the Year.
Junior Wade Waddell joined Sinks as first team All-NEISA skippers, and both senior Alice Bohan and junior Emma Perry earned all-NEISA coed crew second team honors.
"We leverage our success into keeping a winning culture going," Wilkinson said. "Having this winning culture is such a key component. When you have people who know what it takes, they're able to pass it down. In this cycle that we're on, you have a whole generation of athletes that can make winning contagious. Or at least that's what we're hoping for, and we'll find out in a couple of weeks."
That's when the Eagles head to the national championships for three disciplines Memorial Day Weekend. The NCAA Women's National Championship is on May 22-25, with the Team Race discipline following on May 26-28. It ends with the Coed National Championship beginning on May 29 and ending on June 1.
In the women's division, BC is seeded in the Western Semifinals along with a number of national powerhouses. Along with Georgetown and Dartmouth, BC will also have to deal with a number of warm-weather schools from California and Hawaii, along with both the US Coast Guard Academy and Navy.
It's a trend that will continue in the coed and team race competitions when BC draws Ivy League powers like Dartmouth and Yale, among others.
"We get on the water from September to mid-November in Boston, then again immediately after spring break," Wilkinson said. "Our competition season begins at the exact same time. We travel for the entire spring break and turn that into a training session. We train twice a day and turn that into our effort to make up for the fact that our competition in the South can practice in early to mid-February. We always look to ramp up our performance through the spring so we can be hitting our stride (during this time of year)."
Â
Players Mentioned
Skipper
/ Sailing
Crew
/ Sailing
Crew
/ Sailing
Crew
/ Sailing
Skipper
/ SailingBaseball: 2026 ALS Game vs Virginia Tech Recap
Tuesday, April 21
No. 24 Baseball Defeats Duke (April 18, 2026) - Game 2
Sunday, April 19
No. 24 Baseball Defeats Duke - April 18, 2026 Game 1
Saturday, April 18
No. 24 Baseball Defeats Duke (April 17, 2026)
Friday, April 17
