The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association of North America (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, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...
competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. It was founded in 1937 as the Inter-Collegiate Yacht Racing Association, and changed to it current name in 2001.
History
19th century
The first college sailing club to be formed in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
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 University sailing team. It is generally abbreviated as "YCYC" and is affectionately pronounced "yic-yic. ...
, established in
Branford, Connecticut
Branford is a shoreline New England town, town located on Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, about east of downtown New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven. The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Regi ...
in 1881, three years before the founding of the Oxford University Yacht Club at the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
in 1884 followed by the Cambridge University Yacht Club at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 1893, the
Harvard University Yacht Club in 1894, and
Brown University Yacht Club in 1896.
[Sailing history page of Encyclopaedia Brunoniana website]
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20th century
Harvard and Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
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