CNU Sailing

Regatta conditions were cold with winds from the northwest and north east ranging from brisk to relatively light.

This regatta was one of the more interesting thus far in the spring. With our weaken team from the fall, we really had no idea how we would fare. But Matt Lythgoe, Amy Polhemus, Kate McClintock and Maxwell Plarr sailed well and took second place. At the end of sailing on Saturday evening, we were in a three-way tie for first with Fordham and Salisbury with every chance to win the event. Unfortunately, we lost to Fordham in the first race on Sunday and slipped to second, but not as far as did Salisbury who dropped to third.

IMAGE: Matt Lythgoe, Maxwell Plarr, Kate McClintock, and Amy Polhemus

Matt and Kate had never sailed as a team in a team racing event before and the weather this spring didn’t give us much practice. So, the second place was not at all bad and with the elimination of two miscues, we could easily have been first. But the sailing was good and with a double rotation, we got 12 good races. We’ll be sailing in the Army 2-on-2 at the U.S. Military Academy later this year, so we’ll have another chance to sail under this format.

Some very sincere thanks go to the Maryland team who all did a fine job of running this somewhat complicated event.

*After failing to complete their RP form, Salisbury’s score was adjusted according to ICSA procedural rules relating to Record of Participation forms. The tie was broken according to Procedural Rules as well.

Finish: 3rd out of 8
Team: Taylor Gray, Lynn Ball, Scott Racette, and Becca Hornick

While part of the team was sailing in Annapolis, Taylor Gray, Lynn Ball, Scott Racette and Becca Hornick went up the river a bit for the Colony Cup. Taylor did so well there last year and it is so close to his home that he simply had to go back. Scott was sailing his first regatta ever and we found that the combination of Scott and Becca is one that we will be using in the future. Scott and Becca also picked up their first bullet and that is quite an accomplishment for the first time in competition. It seems that cold weather and snow are becoming something of a tradition at this event and Sunday produced both for the second year in a row. We placed third in this event but we’ll do better next year when our guys have more experience. We’ll be looking forward to giving the same team another shot at this event. We placed first there last year and we would like to do so again next year.

Conditions were pretty variable throughout the weekend, but it all produced some good racing. Winds were from the southwest on Saturday, starting strong and gradually diminishing. On Sunday we had much the same but from the Northeast. Both days gave us numerous shifts and made for some very good and some very bad finishes.

IMAGE: Our Saturday Team: Becca Hornick, Scott Racette, Kate McClintock, Matt Lythgoe, and Amy Pohemus

With our team rather reduced in size this spring and will most of the combinations we used in the fall no longer complete, we used this event to give just about everyone on the team a chance to sail and gain experience. If we had hoped that our best possible pairings would emerge, we were disappointed. Our finishes varied widely and we are still looking for the combinations that will work best for us as we get into the real “meat” of the season. Next weekend we will have two teams sailing, one at William & Mary and one at the Maryland 2-on-2 in Annapolis. Perhaps those events will give us a better idea of who will give us our best result at the Qualifier at Georgetown. This event is intended to feature 6 MAISA teams and 6 SAISA (South Atlantic InterCollegiate Sailing Association) teams but SAISA teams haven’t been as active and only Charleston and South Florida came up to Hampton this year.

IMAGE: Our Sunday Team: Matt Lythgoe, Patrick McCabe-Marcell, Taylor Gray, Max Plarr, Amy Polhemus, Lynn Ball & Scott Racette