Oct. 21, 2008
The Navy Intercollegiate Sailing team had another busy, yet successful weekend as late October finally brought some good breeze to the East Coast. The team competed in four different events over the past two days.
Most of the team was busy hosting the Navy Fall Intersectional, Navy's biggest and most competitive event of the fall season. Eighty races were completed over the course of the weekend on two courses for four divisions. On the racing front, Navy was successful over the weekend, finishing fifth overall in the very tough event. Andrew Vann sailed with Christina Chance and Clark Hayes in A division, finishing in sixth place for the weekend. Robert Vann and Juaquina Soland sailed to a fifth-place showing in B, while Mac Fletcher finished a solid 10th in a tough C division. Martin Sterling took home Navy's only trophy of the event by placing third in D.
With so much of the team's resources tied up at Navy Fall, the teams that traveled to other events represented the team well, despite being thinly manned. A small team of four women made the long trip to Connecticut to compete in the Yale Women's Intersectional. This regatta drew 14 of the top 15 women's teams in the country and the Navy team started the event strong, standing ninth after the first day. On Sunday, however, the wind really picked up and our women were undersized and undermanned for the conditions. When the regatta was over, Navy stood in 14th place overall out of 19 schools, with Trisha Kutkiewicz and Emily Taynor finishing 17th in A and Tina Pryne and Theresa James 10th in B.
Four Midshipmen went to SUNY Maritime Academy in Throggs Neck, N.Y., for the MAISA North Fall #2. In a 16-team regatta that was also a qualifier for the War Memorial Regatta for North region teams, Navy took home the victory in impressive fashion. Despite receiving a disqualification in race No. 12, Andrew Hothkiss and Maggie Boyle still managed to finish second in A fleet. Mike Curran and Alice Hong won B and Navy sailed to a 17-point overall victory.
At the Central # 2 regatta at Washington College, Navy finished a solid fourth in the 11-team event. Nat Sabbat sailed with Alex Kramer, who was sailing in his first collegiate event and the pair finished second in A division. Bobby Norlund, also competing in his first event, and Saverio Malderi finished 8th in B.
Next weekend is another busy one as the Mids will be competing in the Stu Nelson Women's at Connecticut College, the Hoyt Trophy at Brown, the Kings Point Dinghy Open at USMMA and the MAISA Fall Open at Old Dominion. Navy will also have a team of sailors competing in the J24 East Coast Championship at the Severn Sailing Association.
# GO NAVY #
