The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is a volunteer organization that serves as the governing authority for all
sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...
competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada.
History
The first college sailing club to be formed in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
was the
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club is a public sailing facility located on Short Beach in Branford, Connecticut (United States), home of the Yale Bulldogs sailing, Yale University sailing team. It is generally abbreviated as "YCYC" and is affectionately ...
, established in
Branford, Connecticut
Branford is a shoreline New England town, town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, about east of downtown New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. The population was 28,273 at the 2020 United Sta ...
in 1881, three years before the founding of the
Oxford University Yacht Club
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in 1884 (followed by
Cambridge University Yacht Club
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
in 1893,
Harvard University Yacht Club in 1894, and
Brown University Yacht Club in 1896).
[Sailing history page of Encyclopaedia Brunoniana website]
/ref> Harvard and Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
held a sailing event in 1911, but this was a long-distance 'cruise' rather than a fleet or team race, and only one Yale yacht attended the event. Organized