Understanding this thread passed quickly on Monday's topic du jour but
here are three thoughts on the Owen.
Schedule: No need to try to make every weekend "perfect" in it's
consistent level of offerings. Having four major regattas spread over
the two big conferences is not a bad thing. More teams have a chance
to win a major but more important, many more teams get to race the
likes of the powerhouses like the Ivies at the Owen, the Boston teams
at the BDC, the MAISA greats along with BC, Roger and company at the
Moore or Szambecki. The Owen is normally somewhere between first and
second string, boosted this year due to nationals and most NE's in
420s. It is also boosted a bit in that the Ivies are taking the
Mosbacher just a bit more seriously than they have in other recent
years. If it does move to another weekend, no big deal, except, it has
worked well on this weekend for some time.
Trophies: The Owen is odd in that three trophies are at stake: the Owen
for overall, the Mosbacher for Ivies, and the Knapp for the big three
(H, Y, P). Mike Horn is correct in that the Knapp should be retired
before turning into the service academy. If three trophies makes the
Owen special, why not add a fourth? How about someone donating the
Butch trophy for the service academies. Which Butch you ask? Either
would be an excellent choice. Both Butch Ulmer (Navy) and Butch Minson
(USCGA) won college nationals and have made significant contributions
to college sailing since.
Who gets in: This is problematic and one of the reasons why the Owen
needs to be play second behind other majors. The original concept
invited the charter members of ICSA from 1936 plus Navy and Coast
Guard. "Traditional Rivals" were added later and for many years the 14
teams were the eight Ivies, four service academies plus MIT and
Williams. The berth allotment increased to 16 then 18. Tufts was the
latest team to join the ranks of traditional rival via NEISA but St.
Mary's attempt failed in MAISA. There are now way more good NEISA
teams seeking this level than available berths. The saving grace is
that our schedule is packed with other competitive events for those
teams on other weekends and on that weekend. Not a perfect situation
but more perfect than the changing weather.
Ken Legler, URI'77
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