IMPORTANT: Sign your name with your College Team and grad year, if you are a parent or anticipating spectator at nationals or graduation please include the competitors name.

TLDR: Move the 2022 College Sailing Nationals later to the normal time so students are able to finish the academic year and graduate while still being able to compete.

Scheduling committee,

As the fall season comes to an end, everyone involved in college sailing is ecstatic to be back and could not be more thankful for your work in allowing competition to return to normalcy. From ICSA to the sailors, coaches, staff, and parents that give everything to allow the sport to succeed, the energy in college sailing is unmatched. Unfortunately, the dates of the 2022 College Sailing Nationals substantially interfere with final exams, classes, and many graduations. A majority of the top competitors will have to make challenging decisions about whether or not to compete. Below we outline a plan allowing the most sailors to compete. Currently, the nationals overlap with 27 of the top 36 schools' graduations, finals, or classes, all which have already been on hold for almost two years.

Attached is a spreadsheet visually displaying the overlap between the proposed dates of Nationals, 18 of the top 36 schools' graduation ceremonies, 7 final exam periods, and 2 academic class schedules.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-PlqWermKNk9XTFoNLbISG6lm2PQ12B9MTygCSPkBaM/edit

We ask you to review and reschedule the 2022 College Sailing Nationals in the spirit of the sport and Corinthian competition. The proposed dates begin on May 26th or 27th, and end on June 5th or 6th and return to the prior order of racing beginning with Women’s Fleet, followed by Co-Ed Team, and culminating with Co-Ed Fleet. A later start date for Nationals affects the least amount of graduations, exams, and summer plans.

For reference, the last 6 years of nationals dates are listed below.
2020: May 19-20, June 2-3, 7-8
2019: May 21- May 31
2018: May 22 - June 1
2017: May 23 - June 2
2016: May 24 - June 3

The Atlantic Coast Championship, Atlantic Coast Tournament, and Women’s ACC’s showcase the best competition of the fall and are the most comparable to Nationals.
15 of the 18 schools who earned the opportunity to compete at ACC’s have graduations during the currently slated National Championships.
7 Schools at the ACC’s Tournament, showcasing the next 18 schools have overlapping graduations and 3 have conflicting final exam periods.

With the proposed dates, 4-5 graduations will overlap exclusively with Women’s Fleet Race qualifiers, and only two teams at Women’s ACC’s having Senior female sailors who competed. There will be no overlap with final exams and only 2 class overlaps. This change would greatly benefit college sailing in its entirety and we believe it is essential to maintain the integrity of competition at the national level.

The Memorial Day Holiday overlaps with the proposed dates and the sailors, coaches, spectators, and supporters who sign this document are willing to be flexible in location and use of the yacht club and surrounding areas during this period due to prior obligations to members of Southern Yacht Club. This could include not using yacht club areas or facilities during this time as well as offering additional services or volunteering with the youth program.

Thank you

Note: The opinions expressed here do not represent any organizations and only represent the opinions and beliefs of the individuals signed below.