Sept. 29, 2008
It was another busy yet successful weekend for the Navy Intercollegiate Sailing Team. The Mids competed in five different regattas around the mid-Atlantic, two of which were hosted by Navy, and sailed to solid finishes in all.
At the Laser South #2, hosted at USNA, competitors had a tough time getting racing done in the light wind and pouring rain that faced them over the weekend. In fact, only two races were completed on Saturday even though the sailors stayed until 6:00 pm and stayed on shore on Sunday until 1:00 pm when a light southerly filled in and the competitors were able to get some decent racing in. After eight total races, Navy's Martin Sterling bested the fleet of 16 boats with a low score of 25 to qualify for the Carl Van Duyne MAISA Singlehanded Championship at USMMA on October 11-12. Joining Sterling in advancing was Mac Fletcher, who finished fourth to nab the final qualifying spot. Al Ravelo finished in eighth and Hugo Roller finished twelfth for the Midshipmen.
On the same course as the Lasers, three Navy sailors competed in the Faye Bennet MAISA Women's Singlehanded Championship. Trisha Kutkeiwicz started the regatta strong and was in contention for advancing to the Nationals, but had problems with a boat she rotated into, which led to a bad set that dropped her to ninth overall. Mary Hesler was 14th and Sara Burke was 17th in the 18-boat fleet.
A very young team traveled with assistant coach Brian Clancy to the North #1 Regatta at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. They arrived to find no wind on Saturday and many of the best sailors in MAISA North vying to qualify their teams for the War Memorial. After a full day of no wind, no racing and no fun on Saturday, Sunday brought better conditions and seven races were completed per division. Navy sailed a strong regatta and came in third overall out of 16 teams. Fresghmen Jason Carminati and Caroline Lockett finished sixth in A division and Clark Hayes and Saverio Malderi were second in B. With sophomore Hayes being the only upperclassman on the trip, the solid overall finish for the Midshipmen in this difficult regatta is very promising for the future of Navy Sailing.
At the St. Mary's College Open for the Senator's Cup, many of the top sailors in MAISA South were in attendance to advance their teams to the War Memorial. On Saturday afternoon, a decent breeze developed and the SMC Race Committee was able to get off six races per division. Two more races were completed on Sunday and the Midshipmen were able to place fifth overall out of 18 teams. Nat Sabatt and Bennett Geyer finished ninth in a very challenging A division, but they were bolstered by Mike Curran and Alice Hong's strong second-place showing in B.
At the Inter-club Team Race Challenge hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club, Andrew Vann, Robert Vann and Tim Murphy skippered J24s with members of the JV Offshore team as crew. The Navy team was the strongest team racing team in the regatta, but the Mids' inexperience sailing J 24s in light air showed as Navy finished second overall behind the team from Eastport Yacht Club.
Next weekend, Navy will race in the Tom Curtis Regatta at Georgetown and the AYC Fall series in the J 24 class.
# GO NAVY #
