The Washington College Open / Central #2
13 schools arrived at Washington College’s Truslow Boathouse to sail 12 FJs in a 8-14kt cold drizzle from the north east. 8 races were completed in both divisions on Saturday. Sunday opened with a very puffy, shifty 12 kt breeze from the North and 5 races per division were completed. One protest was heard and resulted in a DSQ.
IMAGE: Lynn, Maggie, Jess, Katlin (standing) Amy, Victoria and Meghan.
What an absolutely great weekend! That may sound strange given the weather we experienced – cold (47 degrees) and wind (10K – 20K+) and our rather inexperienced B division sailors. But one of our three prime goals is to make every sailor a better sailor and this, we did. This was our “estrogen weekend” when we took women and only women to an event. While Jessica Thal has been our B Skipper for better than a year, Victoria Miller and Maggie Gore were sailing their first college regatta. Frankly, we really didn’t know what to expect with these two sharing the skipper position in B Division. No, they didn’t tear the fleet apart. But race by race they got better and they were dealing with conditions that were as rough as any they had experienced. Both had to deal with capsizes in competition, penalty turns, and understanding rules. Through out the regatta we examined and discussed their weaknesses and in every case they improved. Their crews were Katlin Kitchen and Amy Craven. Katlin was sailing just her second event and Amy, one of our freshmen, had only a little more experience. As a coach, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way they sailed and responded to coaching.
A division was different story. Jessica Thal and Meghan Magee are coming together as one of our very best combinations in recent years. Jess and Meghan finished in fourth place in A Division. Only one other time in the last nine years have we finished so high in A Division at this event. Indeed, Jessica’s and Meghan’s showing was one of the high points for the team this season.
Lynn Ball, our co-captain, was along as a light air crew who never got on the water, but she was all we could have asked for as a captain and for shoreside support. All weekend long she was a major factor in keeping everyone sailing with a positive attitude.
We took seven of our nine women to Washington College. It has been quite some time that we have been able to put an all women’s team on the water and I have no doubt we will be doing it again. We do have more women on our team than ever before and they are all proving to be valuable contributors.
Again, this was a great weekend, for our sailors and for the coaches. This is indeed one of the best groups of men and women we have ever had.
I’ve said some reports are a pain and some are enjoyable to do. This was one of the best. We’ll send out pictures as soon as I can get my camera to give them up.