As a piggy back to Ken's email and the others from Monday I thought I might add some color as to why the most recent change, combining the Mosbacher-Knapp event which historically was in the fall with the Owen Trophy of the spring, occurred.
At the ICSA Annual Meeting, during the summer of 2007, several of the ivies expressed an interest in combining the three events into one. As an 8 team event (versus the full 18 which has become standard to college regattas these days), the Mosbacher-Knapp, had slipped lower on many teams' priority lists. Additionally, it frequently conflicted with singlehanded qualifiers for nationals. The purpose of the change wasn't to water down or belittle the championship, but instead meant to ensure that the event was attracting the best sailors from their respective school. Since all of the ivies were already on the event list for the Owen trophy and since the Owen has had strong attendance in recent history, combining the two events into one was unanimously agreed to by the coaches/student leaders of the various institutions. In speaking with the sailors at the combined event my senior year, most were very positive about the change. When the ivies go head to head in all other sports to top athletes from those institutions face off. This combined event makes it easier for the top sailors at their school to participate in the championship, without sacrificing a weekend of 18-boat fleet racing competition, which is especially valuable during a spring season filled with team racing and a fall season filled with singlehanded events. While I cannot speak for the changes to the Knapp or its significance, I know that Cornell's current sailors and alumni continue to value the Mosbacher Trophy and enjoy seeing it as part of the Owen Trophy. Cheers, Scott Grandt Cornell '08 -- Scott Ryan Grandt [email protected] Mobile: 562-754-1555 ________________________________________________ icsa mailing list [email protected] http://www.collegesailing.org/mailman/?listname=icsa Unsubscribe: Send a blank email to [email protected]
