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Junior Charlie Buckingham became the third Hoya in four years to win the Everett B. Morris Trophy

As far as athletics go, Georgetown is known across the land as Big Man U – famous for producing all-star centers and forwards on the basketball floor.

And while the likes of Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert and Greg Monroe give no reason to drop the title, amends certainly need to be made to the school’s sporting reputation. Georgetown’s sailing team has solidified itself as one of the top programs in the country – both on the land and in the sea.

Look no further than the Everett B. Morris Trophy, the Heisman of college sailing, for evidence. A Hoya has been named the national college sailor of the year in three of the last four years. The latest is Charlie Buckingham, the only sophomore ever to win the prestigious honor.

“We try not to toot our horn, but that means we’re doing something right,” said Mike Callahan, a former Georgetown sailor and the Hoyas’ head coach for the past 11 years. “We’re getting some good sailors in and we’re putting them in the right boats.”

Though the honor may be routine for the Hoyas, it is a rare achievement for someone as young as Buckingham. Callahan admits the honor came as a surprise given Buckingham’s age, but he said the skipper earned the award with his record and versatility among the various disciplines in college sailing.

In the spring, the Newport Beach, Calif., native guided his boat to first in the A-divisions of the Eastern semi-finals, propelling Georgetown into the national championship regatta and the highly competitive Truxtun Umsted. In the fall, Buckingham won conference titles in both the individual and team races.

“If you matched him up against other single-handed sailors, there might have been a couple of kids that had a better single-handed record than Charlie, but put those guys in double-handed boats, and they weren’t that good,” Callahan said.

Buckingham was unavailable for interview at press time as he was in Nova Scotia, Canada, competing in the Laser World Championships.

This summer has been a worldwide tour for Buckingham. After the Hoyas sailed in the college national championships, where they placed third in both the fleet and team races, Buckingham went to Kiel, Germany, for the Olympic Classes Regatta to compete against some of the top sailors in the world. In July, he was in England, Ireland and Scotland competing with a team of U.S. college all-stars.

Buckingham made a stop back in the States for the U.S. Laser National Championships, where he finished third, before traveling to Nova Scotia for the World Championships. He qualified for the Gold Fleet against much more experienced competition.

Buckingham even made it into Sports Illustrated, topping the list of Faces in the Crowd for the June 29 issue.

The young sailor has so far lived up to the high bar set by 2008 College Sailor of the Year Chris Behm (MSB ’08) and 2006 winner Andrew Campbell (SFS ’06), and according to Callahan, Buckingham has his predecessors to thank in part for his success.

“When Andrew [Campbell] was a senior, Chris Behm was a sophomore and he really worked with Chris to get Chris better, and then when Chris became college sailor of the year his senior year, Charlie was a freshman and Chris really worked with Charlie to get Charlie better,” the coach said. “It’s basically one good sailor leading to another to another.”

In his freshman campaign, Buckingham teamed up with Behm for the Hoyas’ first-ever Fleet Racing National Championship. Buckingham skippered the Hoyas’ B-division boat to a first-place finish while Behm handled A-division duties.

Callahan still considers Campbell, who represented the United States in the Beijing Olympics last summer, the best sailor ever from Georgetown, but said that Buckingham has plenty of time to improve – and plenty of goals left to accomplish.

“He has yet to win a Singlehanded National Championship, and I know he wants to do that,” Callahan said. “Charlie has never won a Team Race National Championship. He’s got some of the individual stuff down but I think there are a few more team goals he’d like to get in college.”

The Hoyas are bringing in the nation’s top recruit in the fall, and they hope the familiar face will push Buckingham. Chris Bernard, Buckingham’s old high school teammate from Newport Beach, will bring his numerous titles and accolades to Georgetown.

With Buckingham back for two more years, a strong group of teammates and the top recruit in the country, the winds of change are blowing across campus. They’re catching the sails of Callahan’s team and taking the school’s athletic reputation to the Potomac River, one sailor of the year at a time.

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