NEWPORT, R.I. – Salve Regina’s sailing coach John Ingalls, the 2010 New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Coach of the Year, teamed up with Torey Pellegrini (Class of 2010) and friend Bruce Chafee to win the gold medal in the Yngling Open World Championships held July 17-23 in Lelystad, Netherlands.
This is the second gold medal in four years at the event for Ingalls, who also claimed the title in La Rochelle, France in 2006 with his crew of then Salve Regina students James Randall and Michael Komar (currently the Salve Regina sailing team’s assistant coach).
Ingalls and his crew bested the fleet of 52 boats from 11 countries to claim their gold medals. Two crews from the Netherlands took silver and bronze.
“It was a grueling event,” said Ingalls. “And with a field consisting of five past world champions, the competition could not have been more intense.”
Prior to the world championship regatta, Pellegrini placed second in the Yngling European Youth Championship. He also led Salve Regina to the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Championship regatta held last May in Madison, Wisc.
“It was a pleasure to coach Torey in college for the past four years, which culminated with Salve’s first-ever trip to the college national championships, but getting a chance to actually compete with him in the same boat was a great honor and a wonderful way to complete his college sailing career,” Ingalls said.
“Salve looks forward to a productive fall season that kicks off in early September with intersectional competition at Yale University followed by the alumni regatta on Sept. 18.”
The yngling is a three-person keelboat that has been an Olympic discipline for eight years.
Ingalls, a Little Compton resident, works for his family’s world-renowned Yngling-building business, DeWolf Boats Inc. of Newport, and is a three-time medalist at the World Yngling World Championship.
He is a licensed marine engineer with a master’s degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, a master’s degree in engineering management from Drexel and a master’s in business administration from Bryant.
His coaching career at Salve began in 2003 with just six boats and less than a handful of experienced sailors. In 2006, he spearheaded the university’s campaign for a new fleet of racing boats, which, once realized, allowed Salve Regina to begin hosting New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association and intersectional events on its home course. Salve Regina co-hosted (with the New York Yacht Club and Brown University) the 2008 National Championships.
His four years of collegiate racing with USMMA includes two national championships.