Regatta Reports

All Regatta reports can now be found at regatta.mit.edu you can also follow results updated live during racing from this site.

Thanks to Miami native and MIT sailing grad Dyan Paez for creating TECHSCORE for college sailing.

Sailing Canes Regatta Reports Spring 2009

UM finishes 5th at the George E. Morris Trophy

Boston University

April 25-26

Satruday:

Conditions: 6-9 S-SW flat water

Sailors from thirteen NEISA, MAISA and SAISA schools were greeted by 80 degree sunny weather and a late report time due to the crew regatta taking place on the Charles. After a relatively late start seven A division and six B division races were squeezed in. The racing was close all day with two protests being reported but resolved on the water. BC lead at the end of the day with 54 points.

Sunday:

Conditions: 5-7 W

Once again the weather was gorgeous on the Charles even warmer than Saturday and a hint lighter. The crew regatta continued and the start was again slightly later than usual but the regatta ended on time and we were able to start on time as well. The Conditions were typical of the Charles fairly shifty with solid pressure variations. Again we saw great close racing with one protest being reported and a withdrawal occuring

Thanks to BU for hosting, Greg Helias for running the event and Trip McDermott for his help on Saturday.

A
BU	4	1	3	4	5	5	4	2	5	1	2	7	43
Salve	2	7	1	1	2	1	10	1	9	6	6	4	50
BC	3	3	5	2	12	3	5	7	3	2	5	1	51
Harvard	1	4	6	5	3	9	1	3	11	4	1	5	53
Dartmouth	8	9	7	7	6	2	2	4	1	11	3	8	68
Hobart	7	8	4	3	8	6	8	8	4	9	7	3	75
UMiami	9	10	11	10	4	11	3	9	2	3	10	2	84
URI	6	2	8	6	11	7	6	5	7	5	13	13	89
Tufts	11	12	2	8	1	8	9	13	8	7	4	9	92
Yale	5	5	9	11	9	4	12	11	6	12	9	6	99
Unh	10	6	10	9	7	13	7	6	10	10	8	11	107
Middlebury	12	11	12	12	10	12	11	10	12	13	11	10	136
Queens	13	13	13	13	13	10	13	12	13	8	12	12	145



B
Harvard	1	6	4	7	6	7	4	4	2	1	1	1	44
BC	7	2	1	5	1	5	5	3	4	3	3	10	49
Hobart	6	4	3	2	2	1	2	9	6	6	6	9	56
BU	2	8	5	3	5	10	1	1	7	7	10	7	66
U Miami	9	10	6	1	4	2	3	12	1	11	4	4	67
Dartmouth	12	1	9	8	3	12	8	2	3	2	5	11	76
URI	4	7	10	4	9	4	11	7	5	5	12	8	86
Yale	3	3	8	12	12	9	9	5	19 (RAF)	4	8	5	97
Unh	10	9	12	9	7	6	7	10	8	10	2	3	93
Tufts	8	5	2	11	11	8	6	6	11	12	13	2	95
Salve	11	12	7	10	8	3	12	8	9	8	9	6	103
Middlebury	5	11	11	13	10	11	10	11	12	9	7	12	122
Queens	13	13	13	6	13	13	13	13	13	13	11	13	147

Total
Harvard	97
BC	100
BU	109
Hobart	131
Dartmouth	144
U of Miami	151
Salve	153
URI	175
Tufts	187
Yale	196
UNH	200
Middlebury	258
Queens	292

UM wins SAISA Southpoints 4

Host: University of Miami

March 28, 2009

Day began overcast, with winds approximately 15 knts. Direction started at 170 degrees. After a rough start at 10:30 with a couple of breakdowns, the rest of the day went smoothly. Wind died to 12-15 knots, with a windshift all the way to 180 degrees at 2PM, holding steady the rest of the day. Blue sky and sun came out at approximately noon, with temperatures in the lower 80’s (water temperature mid 70’s). 9 sets were completed by 5PM, with 3 requests for redress due to equipment failure. We would like to thank FAU for bringing down 2 boats to add to our 8 FJ’s, Ransom Everglades for loaning their floating docks. We would also like to thank Alex Kaplan, James Remeika, and alum Fred Moffatt for their help, along with the Coconut Grove Sailing Club and the UM Sailing team afterguard.

Congrats to the winning team UMiami

A division David Hernandez ’12, all, Nicole Popp ’12 , 1-4, 9 Miriam Rosendo ’10, 5-8

B Division: Nick Voss ’12, all, Hanah Mashburn ’10, 1-4, 9 Clarissa Carlucci ’12, 5-6

Results:

races 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TOT

1 Univ of Miami A 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 1 5 18

B 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 14 32

2 Univ of Florida A 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 2 14

B 5 4 3 3 4 5 4 3 5 36 50

3 Univ. of S. Florida A 5 4 3 3 5 3 5 3 6 37

B 2 1 2 1 2 1 3 4 2 18 55

4 Eckerd A 3 2 4 4 4 5 2 4 1 29

B 3 3 5 8 6 4 5 5 3 42 71

6 Florida Gulf Coast A 9 8 7 6 6 6 6 5 4 57

B 4 5 7 4 3 3 1 6 8 41 98

7 Rollins A 7 6 6 8 3 4 8 7 8 57

B 6 7 4 5 7 8 9 7 4 57 114

8 Georgia Tech A 6 5 8 7 8 8 7 8 3 60

B 8 9 8 9 8 7 8 8 7 72 132

9 Jacksonville A 8 7 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 78

B 7 8 9 7 9 9 7 9 9 74 152

A Division

1. Florida 14 J.P. Wright ’10, all Ashley Avenson, ’11, all

2. UM 18 David Hernandez ’12, all Nicole Popp ’12 , 1-4, 9

Miriam Rosendo ’10, 5-8

3. Eckerd 29 Kaye Siemers ’12, all Laura Dallman-Weiss ’11, all

4. USF 37 Matt Gardiner ’11, 1-8 Margaret Spears ’12, all

Sean Ross ’12, 9

5. FAU 48 Jeff Dusek ’09, all Lianne Laubscher ’11, all

6. Rollins 57 Matthew Smith ’11, all Will Mener ’12, all

7. FGGC 57 Charles Abell ’10, all Ermin Komsic ’12, 1-2

John Britton ’10, 3-9

8. Georgia T. 60 Phil Forgione ’12, all Lacey Wildess ’11,

Ali Wallick ‘11

9. Jacksonville 78 Michael Todd ’11, all Nicolas Bostic ’12, all

B Division

1. UM 14 Nick Voss ’12, all Hanah Mashburn ’10, 1-4, 9

Clarissa Carlucci ’12, 5-6

Nikki Bruno ’12, 7-8

2. USF 18 Britton Steele ’12, all Hillary Noble ’10, all

3. UF 36 Caroline Wright ’12, all Rebecca Skipp ’10, all

4. FGGC 41 Andrew Rahn ’12, 1-8 Nerissa Erb ’10, all

Matthew Mundt ’12, 9

5. Eckerd 42 Zack Shapiro ’12, all Caeli Mcgaunn ’12, all

6. FAU 43 Matt Bradley ’11, all Kara Bushman ’11, all

7. Rollins 57 Seth Pierce ’11, all Jason Limbach ’12, all

8. Georgia T. 72 Andrew Battigaglia ’12, all Nick St. Germaine ’12, all

9. Jacksonville 74 Patrick Oglesby ’11, all Joe Wilda ’11, all

Winning Team

University of Miami

SAISA Open and SP#1 College of Charleston 2/14-15/09

The Canes did a great job this weekend finishing 5th overall and 3rd in the South Points standings, a strong start to the semester. A total of 6 Team members traveled to Charleston with Assistant coach Jason Hill.

FINAL RESULTS
REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS:
Saturday - No wind all day, rain most of the day. SAISA annual meeting was held during the morning postponement. No races all day.
Sunday - We had 5-12 knots from the northeast, shifting more east as the day progressed. The course was set just off the breakwater, making for shifty windward marks. Ebb current increased throughout the day. 8 races were competed in each division. Thanks to the CofC team for helping to run the event. Congrats to the Cougars.

A division = 8 Races
B division = 8 Races
A B TOT
1. Charleston 21 16 37
2. South Florida 34 15 49
3. Clemson 27 43 70
4. Eckerd 44 31 75
5. Miami 35 63 98
6. Florida Atlantic 70 32 102
7. Rollins 44 65 109
8. Georgia Tech 54 65 119
9. Tennessee 75 48 123
10. NC State 70 83 153
11. NC Willmington 81 84 165
12. Duke 72 102 174
13. Florida 107 87 194
14. Florida Gulf Coast 106 106 212

A division = 8 Races
TOT
4. Miami 35 Nick Voss '12 ALL
Hannah Mashburn '10 ALL

B division = 8 Races
TOT

7. Miami 63 Amy Gaylord '12 ALL
James Remcika '09 ALL

Miami A 6 4 8 8 3 1 4 1 35
B 9 10 6 9 9 9 7 4 63
15 29 43 60 72 82 93 98 98

Sailing Canes Regatta Reports Fall 2008

Atlantic Coast Tournament Havard / Boston University November 15-16 2008 Sponsored by Zhik

9 members of the Miami Team traveled to Boston to compete at this National level event after qualifying at the district level. The "U" finished 5th out of 20 teams, ahead of several top nationally ranked teams. David Henandez and Nicole Popp finished 2nd in A division and scored some Zhik gear in recognition of their outstanding performance. The Sailingcanes would like to thank UM SAFAC for travel funding and a special thanks to all the parents who showed up on the Harvard dock to cheer us on. A special shout out goes to Mrs. Reimieka for feeding and putting up with us all weekend as well as to Coach Johnson and Professor Bill Johns for there time this semester.

REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS:

Day 1: No breeze early; one bad A race, followed by a long delay. Wind
filled in around 1230. 5 races in A, 4 in B before darkness set in. One
protest filed and denied; several breakdowns filed, two granted. Thank you
to the coaches who stuck around to hear protests, and thanks to the BU
undergrads and grad student who helped run races, move marks, etc.

Day 2: Big breeze. We added a Triangle course to minimize gybing. Carnage
ensued nevertheless. Race 6A completed, won by Hobart in convincing style.
One boat ended up on the bike path in Boston. Regatta suspended due to heavy
winds, boat damage. When it was clear that no more racing would be possible
(heavy breeze, forecast to build), racing called for the day, forcing us to
drop scores from 5A and 6A.

A division = 4 Races
B division = 4 Races
A B TOT

1. Yale 19 19 38
2. URI 21 17 38
3. Hobart 15 27 42
4. Dartmouth 24 22 46
5. U. Miami 18 30 48
6. Coast Guard 40 10 50
7. Salve Regina 21 29 50
8. U. New Hampshire 35 18 53
9. BU 40 29 69
10. Bates 32 42 74
11. Bowdoin 33 44 77
12. U. Florida 37 47 84
13. Fordham 43 43 86
14. Cornell 49 40 89
15. Columbia 53 63 116
16. Princeton 65 61 126

SAISA Sloop Championships 2008 St. Petersburg YC and Univ South Fl November 8-9, 2008

REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS: SAISA Sloop Championships were hosted by the St. Petersburg YC and USF in Sonars, Nov 8. Eight teams competed, and five races were sailed, averaging 27 minutes, all windward leewards of varying laps. Winds were 4 to 6 knots, from the east and southeast for the first races, then from the northwest and west for the final two races once the seabreeze filled in. Seas were flat and temperatures in the mid 80's. Sailing for Miami were Shane O'Neile, James Remeika, Alex Kaplan, and Alex Kavanaugh. Special shout out to Shake-a-leg-Miami for allowing us to practice on their Sonars prior to the event and to Bill Johns for coaching

1. USF 2. Eckerd 3. Charleston 4. FAU 5. Miami 6. Florida 7. Florida State 8. Jacksonville Univ

SAISA Fall Coed Championships College of Charleston November 1-2, 2008
REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS: UM qualifies for the post season Atlantic Coast Tournament @ Havard/BU

Nine races were sailed today under sunny skies to decide the SAISA Co-ed Fall Championship. Racing began at around 10am on the Cooper River. The breeze started out of the North and was a steady 8+ knots. It remained steady through 6 races, but as it got warmer it started to fade and the ebb tide really started to haul. By 1ish it was impossible to race. After a few hours of delay ashore, the remaining two races of the series were started "around the corner" near Crab Bank. By then the tide was slack and the sea breeze slowly filled. For races 8A and 8B, goldcups were used while all the other races were two lap windward leewards.

Sailing for Miami were A division David Hernandez and Nicole Popp, B division Nick Voss, Rachael Libby, Hannah Mashburn, heavy air and Pit crew James Reimika. Special thanks to Bill Johns for driving and to James Reimika's uncle for use of his great house.

A division = 9 Races
B division = 9 Races
A B TOT

1. Charleston 20 15 35
2. Eckerd 17 36 53
3. South Florida 29 24 53
4. Miami 38 37 75
5. Florida 36 46 82
6. Clemson 67 36 103
7. Rollins 54 69 123
8. Tennessee 76 64 140
9. Duke 68 81 149

SP#5 Eckerd

REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS:
Sailors arrived to clear skies and barely any breeze. Racing was delayed at the start, but a breeze filled in enough to get off an A set. After that the wind was all over the place, blowing N, S, E, and W in a period of about half an hour. We were, however, able to get off enough races to make a regatta. Courses were W/L twice around. No protests or breakdowns. This regatta saw the historic debut of the UM women's team. The ladies team finished 10th out of 15 co-ed teams. Sailing A division was Amy Gaylord and Hannah Mashburn and B division was Nicole Popp and Rachael Libby. UM Co-ed team finished 2nd, Sailing B division was David Hernandez and Mariam Rosendo and A divison was Nick Voss and Chelsea Rivera. The strong results so far this season have qualified UM for the Districts later this month and a chance at the ACC's in New England. Go Canes! Sunday the team had a great sloop practice on Bill John's lighting to get ready for the next sloop event at charleston.

SP#4- due to the FSU home game we took a bye on this regatta

SP#3 Rollins Orlando- UM places 2nd. Saturday morning winds were zero, teams awaited wind to build up from the southwest. During the postponement Rollins had a great BBQ lunch for everyone. Approximately 1 PM wind built up to 5-7 miles per hour and a total of 10 races were completed ( 5 in each division). UM was tyed for 1st with USF going into the last race of the day. The UM A division tried to pin USF out on the starting line, but USF managed to escape and sailed a great race to finish 1st and 3rd respectively. UM B division stepped up to the place and finished 1st with USF hot on their heels in 2nd and not enough boats between them for UM to pull ahead of USF in the final standings. Sailing in A division we Nick Voss and Nicole Popp, and B division David Hernandez and Rachelle Libby. On Sunday in Miami the team had a great turnout out of 5 boats plus extra crews for a light air practice at CGSC.

A division = 5 Races
B division = 5 Races
A B TOT

1. University of South 13 11 24
2. University of Miami 13 14 27

3. Rollins 17 26 43
4. FAU 21 24 45
5. Eckerd 31 15 46
6. Rollins JV 34 33 67
7. Georgia Tech 40 34 74
8. FSU 46 32 78
9. USF JV 37 42 79
10. Florida Gulf Coast 30 51 81
11. University of Florid 48 40 88

SP#2 Charelston- UM places 4th. The Charleston Fall Open was an extremely well run regatta, taking a more usual turn of events than the previous weekends south points 1. Twelve races were sailed in each division in winds ranging from 4 to 12 Knots. Due to the fact that the racing was held in Charleston Harbor there was a lot of current and wind shifts. But this was expected. The University of Miami team came out firing with A skipper David Hernandez with crew Nicole Popp winning the first race. The team would go on and win 4 races in combined A and B division. Nick Voss and Hannah Marshburn sailed in B division. The team ended up a solid 4th place at the end of the regatta out of 15 teams in attendance, with much support from their UM teammates on shore. Next weeks regatta is @ Rollins outside of Orlando for some lake sailing and a much shorter drive.

SP#1 @ USF September 13th - UM places 3rd. Season opener UM finished 3rd out of 12 co-ed SAISA teams. Winds were, as expected, dying easterlies in the morning accompanied by Tampa Bay slop. A long postpone on shore in the afternoon, and the final B set was sailed in a beautiful westerly seabreeze. Four races sailed in each division, averaging 15 to 20 minutes in length, all modified W-L's. Sailing coded A division were David Hernandez and Nicole Popp and B division Nick Voss and Hannah Mashburn. We also fielded a JV team sailing A division Alex Kavanaugh and Rachel Steinhauser and B division Alex Kaplan, James Remeika and Amy Gaylord. The team is looking forward to traveling to Charleston for sp#2 and hoping for more wind.

Spring 2008

reports coming soon (hopefully better at reporting than last semester)

Recruits for next years Freshman Class : Confirmed admissions include 420 sailor Nick Voss, 2007 National High school Laser Champion David Hernandez, Nationally outstanding 420 crew Nicole Popp. Several other excellent sailors have applied for regular admissions and indicate that UM is their first choice. Come sail where it's always Orange Bowl weather.

Quest for Olypmic Gold- Good luck to Sailing Cane Alum Zach Railey representing the US in the Finn at the 2008 Summer games in Quindoa, China.

Fall 2007

The sailing team had a strong fall semester, traveling to Charleston, Orlando, and St. Petersburg,to compete in 5 interscholastic regattas over the semester. We finished 10th in the South Atlantic region of the National College sailing league. We would like to thank the many UM sailors who joined us during practice during the fall, and we would like to congradulate new team members Jackie Hutchins and Cam Siegel on competing interscholastically for the first time this semester. We will be holding try-outs from Jan 21 through Jan. 28 next semester. Please email James Remeika at remeika@gmail.com if you are interested in joining the team.

The University of Miami Sailing team held their annual freshman recruiting session at CGSC on Saturday August 25^th. Twenty new freshman recruits attended the informational session which included one on one interviews with Coach Johnson to evaluate sailing skills, instruction on FJ rigging and equipment care by returning upper classmen followed by on the water sailing demonstrations off the dock. Meanwhile the UM sailing afterguard donated their time and money and cooked burgers, dogs, and veggie burgers for the new recruits to welcome them to UM and CGSC. The first college regatta of the fall season was held @USF last weekend and the team place 11^th out of 19 teams. The sailors reported that the sailing was difficult with drifting conditions and lots of shifts combined with feeling a little rusty in the boat handling after the summer break. They head to Charleston on September 15^th for SAISA SP#2. Regatta reports will be posted to www.sailingcanes.org as they become available.

Hey everybody,

Well, we out did ourselves yet again. Setting the bar even higher, UM WON ITS FIRST REGATTA EVER THIS LAST WEEKEND IN ORLANDO. We sailed 8 gold cup races on this shifty little lake behind Rollins College; Jon Modica and Meaghan Fondiller sailed for us in varsity A, Alexis Palewicz and myself sailed in varsity B, Alex Kaplan and Rachel Libby sailed in JV A (despite Alex looking close to death due to extreme illness), and Dan Nassar and returning crew Caroline Larson sailed in JV B. We raced against 7 other varsity teams, and 2 other JV teams...unfortunately the JV teams scores were not recorded , however they did race and get into the mix.

Jon and Meaghan had a solid performance in A division, earning third place in conditions that did not favor Jon's strongest talents (on top of being an excellent sailor, Jon is a class A boatspeed demon). The extreme shiftiness and puffiness of the lake conditions tend to detract from the importance of speed and handling. In 8 races Jon and Meaghan accumulated 28 points with a scoreline of 2, 3, 8, 2, 2, 4, 6, 1.

Although I learned to sail on Biscayne Bay, the fact that you don't have to really be fast on lakes definitely helped me out in B division. With the combination of a ton of luck, the skill of a good crew, and the magic of the short shorts I was wearing, Alexis helped me in posting a scoreline of 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 5.

Going into the last B division rotation, I knew we were three points ahead of USF for the combined team totals. So the last rotation turned into a bit of a match race between Simon Sanders and I, which I found very exciting, especially being over early on the last start. Our first victory was sealed just at the very end. We ended up winning 40 to 46.

Up until that race, the only boat to beat me in B division was the other half of Team Alligator Smooth, and Caroline. I really should have had a second in the fourth race, but because they dont score the JVs it came up as a first...it is great to see our whole team doing well against the rest of SAISA.

So as I'm sitting here typing this e-mail, at 5:34 on a tuesday, I realize that people have a lotta work this week (had to cancel practice because of turnout). That's totally cool...this is a good little breather between our hectic regular season and getting ready for districts. Craig and I have talked, and WE'RE PLANNING ON RUNNING AN IN-FLEET PRACTICE REGATTA ON SATURDAY DOWN AT CGSC. It'll be a good chance to get the WHOLE TEAM OUT AT ONE TIME. Great way to learn and have some quality team-bonding time without having to take a whole day out of your weekend.

Tentatively we're thinking about meeting at the IM fields at 2 to go down there, run a few races for the afternoon and then come back in probly before 6. This may change however, I will send e-mails.

For those that are interested, I may set up the 29er on sunday and take it for a spin with any and all that want to see what real speed on the water is about. Hopefully the weather will cooperate...call or email me if you want to go.

This is the all-time best we've ever done for the district's regular series....as our four regattas we have scored a 4, 5, 1, 1. We've locked our qualification, and will finish the fall season as either the second or third place team in SAISA.

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY!

Fred

UM Team:
This weekend was a very solid performance indeed by the team, the weekend started last Monday with the sailing and preparation during the week. We now have 8 boats and we need to get everyone sailing to keep this going. We need to build the skills of the whole team to make a weekend happen like this more often and this can be done on the water. Let’s see how many boats we can get sailing on Thursday, talk with Fred or Angela about getting out that day. We will most likely be doing a HOME REGATTA one of these Sundays coming up to get the whole team racing and have some fun on the water.
Craig

Hi everybody,

UM's performance this weekend was the BEST IN THE HISTORY OF UM SAILING. We sailed against 15 other varsity teams from all over SAISA in Charleston, South Carolina. We raced against teams such as North Carolina, Tennessee, College of Charleston, Clemson, Vanderbilt, Duke, Davidson, Rollins, Eckerd, South Florida, University of Florida, FAU, (that's all I can remember) and WE BEAT ALL OF THEM, besides Charleston, who had their home-court advantage. Although we weren't sailing against their top guys, its also good to note that Charleston sailors are the Reigning National Champions. That's gotta say something about the degree of the competition.

For all of you guys who have never sailed out of charleston, where they have you set up is in the mouth of Charleston harbor, which is the union point of the Ashley and Cooper rivers as they join up to flow out into the Atlantic. Right there, in between a shipping channel, the U.S.S. Lexington aircraft carrier and Fort Sumter (where the Civil War started), is where they race you....there is a TON of current. The tidelines and geographically derived windshifts make for some important local knowledge, not to belittle the achievements of the Charleston kids, because they sailed extremely well, but they knew their home turf pretty comprehensively. We sailed 8 races in breeze that built from 3 to 5 to about 15 knots on saturday. On Sunday, two A races were sailed. Jon won the first, and finished second in the second race, however that race was abandoned because the wind died. Because the necessary accompanying B races were never sailed, all of sunday's racing didn't count towards the final scores, which was disappointing as jon significantly narrowed the margin on charleston in that first A race.

To clarify: Sailing for us in A division were Jon Modica and crew Meaghan Fondiller, who NEVER HAD A RACE OUTSIDE OF THE TOP THREE. Superb speed made possible a score only four points behind that of Charleston's A skipper. Their scoreline in the 8 races reads; 3, 2, 1, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2. An outstanding showing.

Team 'alligator smooth' sailed B division. This team was comprised of myself on the helm, with Dan Nassar in the front of the boat. We were slightly less consistent, had some ups and downs. We opened the regatta with a perfect rotation (first time I've ever done that in Charleston, highschool or college, skipper or crew), but were over early in the fifth race. We cleared ourselves, however I ended up "praying instead of sailing" in the very accurate words of Coach Craig, and made a bad decision banging out to the unfavored corner, earning an 11th place finish. Ourscoreline for the 8 races: 1, 1, 2, 5, 2, 11, 2, 3. All in all I'm pretty happy with how we placed, minus my glaring easy error.

Alex Kaplan, our alternate, was a true team player, and selflessly sacrificed his sailing time to allow Dan and I to continue with our streak of success. His contribution to the discussions in my off rotations was invaluable, and as usual, his presence uplifting and hilarious. His skills as a cabana boy have my back very happy and sunburn free as well. I love you, baby.

Coach Craig aided our perfomance immensely, more or less completely dissecting the course for me and giving race play-by-play as we watched the A fleet sailing better than Gary Jobson himself. His discussion and ideas prompted sailing success, and kept me on point. His coaching style compliments my sailing tremendously, and Coach I speak for everybody when I say we love havin you with us.

So....the upshot of all this...WE PLACED SECOND OF 16 VARSITY TEAMS. We were beat only by Charleston, a north points team....which means we scored a FIRST FOR SOUTH POINTS REGATTA NUMBER THREE, this is going to make qualifying for the district champs almost a sure thing.

I look forward to seeing you all out in practice, and hope that those not able to attend in recent weeks will be able to come out and meet the team. Our recent success portends big things; if you havent gotten on the bandwagon yet, nows the time to join the show.

Fred

South Points 2 was another success....although i embarrassed myself and the team in the worst way this weekend. The team got fifth overall, however if I had remembered what course we were supposed to sail the team would have scored a third. Alex Kaplan and Rachel Libby paired up, as did Alex Kavanaugh and Hannah Mashburn to sail solidly in B division despite their status as south points newbies (with the exception of my man, sizl, South points stalwart veteran). Kaplan and Rachel sailed two races, garnering a fifth and a seventh, while Kavanaugh and Hannah sailed the other set, posting an eighth and a sixth.

All of the racing was done in very light breeze, and as the extremes of conditions tend to favor the veterans, the solid racing demonstrated by our less experienced B sailors is noteworthy and admirable.

Alexis and I opened the racing in A fleet with a win. In the second race we were forced over the starting line by the guy we were staying with in St. Pete, and fought our way back through the fleet to finish seventh. The third race we posted a second place.....and then tragedy. The last race the breeze completely shut off, and coming back down to the finish line, I thought the course we were supposed to sail was simply a windward leeward...little did I know it was two laps of a windward leeward, so as I crossed the finish line clearly ahead in first place (or so I thought) the rest of the fleet was rounding the pin to go back upwind. I wanted to lynch myself from the mast using my mainsheet. I pissed away a dominant win in A division, and a significant chance to up ourselves in the rankings. Oh well, live and learn. Despite my stupidity, Alexis and I managed to place third in A (CJ Abel from Gulf Coast failed to sign his forms and was charged with a 20 point penalty, moving us from fourth to third in A).

We've had some serious thunderstorms in the afternoons, causing some trouble for our practices. I hope that despite any bad weather we might be having on campus, everybody should still come out to the IM fields as often these storms stall out as they reach the coast and a good practice can still be run.

I hope to see you all out on the water as we ramp up for our pre-district champs in Charleston this weekend.

Fred

OUR FIRST REGATTA WAS A SUCCESS! We took two teams; a varsity and a jv. A collegiate regatta is a bit of a bifurcated event, there is a regatta for A division fleet and B division fleet, each fleet's point totals count equally toward a team's total scores. JV B division was steered by Dan Nassar, and crewed by Eric Basson. JV A division was steered by Alex Kavanaugh and crewed by Rachel Libby. Varsity B division was skippered by Alex "sizl" kaplan and crewed by Meaghan Fondiller. Varsity A division was steered by myself, with Angela as co-skipper.

It started out very light in St. Petersburg, and quite shifty with streaky pressure. The breeze built throughout the day, and our forecasted rain never materialized. Both A fleet and B fleet sailed 8 races. Everybody demonstrated significant potential. Alex Kavanaugh and Rachel had some great races, including a third place finish. Dan and Eric won a race in B division. Sizl and Meaghan kicked some butt making it to the weather mark first in two races, and finished inside the top three a couple of times. My luck and angela's skill helped us achieve a second place finish in A division for the series. The team as a whole got 4th, which is what we need to qualify for districts.

We need to talk about who is up for doing our second event in St. Petersburg, this time at Eckerd College, this saturday. Please e-mail me and let me know if you're up for it, if you want to go I urge you to get to practice to shake the rust off/learn some new and valuable skills.

I HOPE THAT EVERYBODY GETS OUT ON THE WATER WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY!

Fred