CNU Sailing

College Sailing’s newest facility opened its first event today under rain and light easterly breezes.  The new River Center at St. Mary’s College provided comfortable shelter and nice shore-side viewing for six races in each division.  The visiting coaches helped toast the facility as B division raced to the dock.

The new St. Mary’s facility is truly amazing. Not only is it well designed but it is, perhaps, the most ecologically considerate ever done. With geothermal heating, minimal water use toilets, materials that have the least impact on the environment, and porous paving of the parking lot, St. Mary’s has given guidance for how to “do the job right.” And as the picture shows, it is also a visually impressive facility.

As for CNU, we are still seeking the best combination for our “B Team.” You may have noticed that I didn’t even offer an accounting of the Ocean County Regatta on the previous weekend. We did so poorly, that there wasn’t much to say. When Taylor Gray needed a semester off, we began our search for a replacement as we had expected Taylor to fill this need. Ocean County offered little to go with. At St. Mary’s we confirmed that Ben France will be most effective as our “A ’ skipper as he finished 3rd in his division. But we must still look for the answer to the “B Problem.” Since next weekend at Georgetown will be our last chance to qualify for the War Memorial Regatta, we will have to find the answer this week. Wish us luck.

IMAGE: Maxwell, Tyler, Ben, Lynn & Johanna

It was beautiful day in Norfolk and the breeze was 5-10 out of the south. Six races were completed in A division, 7 races were completed in B division today, Eight races were completed overall in both divisions. No protests filed.

This event was a non-competitive event conducted to help developing sailors for seven other MAISA schools and CNU. Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Salisbury University, the University of Maryland, the University of Maryland – Baltimore County, American University, and William & Mary were in attendance.

Putting on this event was no small effort and the help of Jim White, (CNU Assistant Coach), John Griffin (William & Mary Coach), Gene Williams (SSU Advisor), and Kate McClintock (CNU Assistant Coach) everything went smoothly. From the CNU team, Maxwell Plarr was of particular help.

The winds failed to cooperate on Saturday, but that was no real problem since a good bit of what was offered to the visiting teams was in the form of informational presentations. One of the most important subjects to be addressed was capsize recovery. So, the flat water and no wind worked well for practice of this important skill. As it turned out, on Sunday several crews had a good opportunity to show what they learned.

Sunday gave us almost perfect winds and allowed us to sail with two groups, the better sailors in the 420s on the “outside” and the newer people in the FJs on the “inside.”

All indications were that the event was a success in every way and with the value for such events clear, we expect to continue to do what we can at CNU to aid the development of the sailors in the smaller teams.

From Salisbury University
Corey Reichenbach
Jack Kinnally
Stephanie Seggel

From William & Mary
Tim Bacon
Peter Bronez
Robert Blumlery
Nick Kanton
Briana Paxton
Alex Schulte
Andrea Schmadel
Tracy Jenkins
Issac Clark
Zoe Gerstle

From America University
Billy Hluchan
Leigh Cramer
Alli Schultz
Robert Lemming

From Christopher Newport University
Jerrica Nichols
Jessica Thal
Evan Miller
Dara Gruber
Christina Andrade
Katlin Kitchen
Tyler Million
Scott Racette
Peter Michalski
Sara Kenworthy
Maxwell Plarr

From Virginia Tech
Matt Newborn
Katrina Larkens
Weston Thayer
Tucker Bartn
Alex Vann

From The University of Virginia
Nathaniel Wapner
Chelsea Day
Andrew Walden
Sarah Baker

From The University of Maryland – Baltimore County
Josh Cochran
Jordan Gershberg
Andrew Alexander
Randy Dumorney

From The University of Maryland
Paul Hadfield
Brianna Johnson
Kyle Jancuk
Nick Dudas