By Airwaves Editor Martha Pitt
Ted Anderson photo
Earlier this month, twenty of the top high school sailing teams from around the country traveled to Chicago, IL to compete in the ISSA High School Doublehanded Championship for the Mallory Trophy. The event was a true test of sailing ability, endurance and patience; the challenging conditions on Lake Michigan showed the sailors the range of seas and winds that Chicago can present! The unseasonably cold temperatures also tested the sailors to brave both the cold water and air. One would think that the cold might slow down some of the teams hailing from warmer climates, but The Antilles School Hurricanes proved that they could overcome the cold and still sail as fast as they do down in the islands! Through most of the event, the Hurricanes were battling for the top spot with Cape Cod Academy, and by the end of racing were ahead by just four points for the title. For full results click here: https://www.sail1design.com/airwaves-sailing-news/high-school-college-news/1107-mal2013
Patrick Scherer photo
The sailors who traveled to Chicago to represent the team were Ian Barrows (’13), Agustina Barbuto (’14), Ian Coyle (’13), Alec Tayler (’13, captain), Jordan Ladd (’13), Isabelle Teare (’13), Taylor Ladd (’14), Serena Cipullo (’13), and Kyle Brego (’13). These sailors have been a part of this winning culture for a few years, adding this sixth national title to the team’s record since its start just ten years ago. In recent years and with many of these same sailors, the team placed 1st at the 2011 Mallory Championship and 5th at the Baker Team Race Championship. Last year, they placed 3rd and 4th at these same two events, respectively. They have been dominant in their SAISA conference, winning the SAISA Championship/Mallory Qualifier the past four years in a row, and this year won the Team Race Championship/Baker Qualifier. They have sent sailors to the Cressy Singlehanded Championship held in the fall for the past three years in a row, placing 7th in the Full Rig in the 2013 championship, 2nd and 10th in the Radial in 2012 (also held at Chicago Yacht Club), 1st in the Radials and 5th in the Full Rig in 2011, and 1st in 2010. T. Ladd and Fredey also recently won the 2013 SAISA Girls’ Championship.
Ted Anderson photo
This team has a tremendous amount of talent and depth, and so it is no surprise that they were able to add one more national title to their team history! Below are some comments from the sailors themselves about the event and their season, and what is in store for the future!
How has your season gone thus far, prior to this nationals?
Alec Tayler: It couldn’t have gone any better prior to nationals; we won both our qualifiers and learned a lot from both as well. We definitely feel that we gained more this year from our qualifiers than last year.
Are you able to compete very often, being so far away from much of your competition?
Agustina Barbuto: A lot of the teams outside of high school sailing compete in international events in the laser, International 420, and Club 420s, which provides valuable experiences. Other than that we can only fund raise enough money to attend the qualifiers the national championships, and occasionally the Coast Guard Larry White Trophy in the Fall.
Serena Cipullo: In terms of team racing, we just team race ourselves all year, and we organize 2 clinics a year with college coaches. This year Zack Leonard from Yale and Bern Noack from Harvard came down to run team race clinics, both were a lot of fun.
What kind of preparation, both on the water and off, did you do for this event?
Isabelle Teare: We practice 3 days a week all school year and schedule a few weekend practices in the spring. A big part of our preparation and being on the team is participating in fundraising. We have one mom, Amy Tayler, who dedicates her time to organizing our fundraisers. We wouldn’t be able to compete or travel anywhere without her fundraising efforts.
Taylor Ladd: Even though we don’t get to practice against other schools, we have a lot of sailors on our team. It’s great to see, for example, the freshman challenging the seniors, and I feel like everyone really pushes each other to do their best.
What did you think of the conditions in Chicago?
Agustina: These were among the most difficult conditions we have ever seen. Some races it was crucial to play the shifts, but other races you would have to consistently pick a side that had more pressure.
Ian Barrows: They were cold and unpredictable, and really challenging. It seems as though the cold water/air didn’t slow you down much. Was adjusting to the climate tough?
Team: We often say “suns out guns out,” but after getting to Chicago we knew this wouldn’t be effective.
Ian Coyle: I was really cold, but we were able to stay focused despite it.
Alec: We come from the warmest temperature and had the least amount of gear, but this didn’t really affect our racing.
Ted Anderson photo
What was Sunday like for you guys, jockeying back and forth with Cape Cod Academy for the top spot? How did you manage to stay focused and get it done?
Isabelle: Alec had a really good attitude about understanding that it came down to every single boat, and even if we weren’t going to win the race, it was important to pass as many boats as possible to gain points on the B division leader.
Alec: The day was really stressful, but the team stayed positive, and I just went for it each race.
Ian B./Ian C./Agustina – everyone else on the course seemed to have trouble staying consistent, but you
managed to finish in the top 2 in 2/3 of the races; how were you able to remain so consistent and successful on the race course through the wide range of conditions that we saw this weekend?
Agustina: We kept analyzing what the wind was doing before the race started and throughout the race as well. It kept changing, and we just kept responding to every single change.
Ian B: Take it one race at a time.
Any other comments about the weekend that you would like to share?
Serena: These competitions are a blast since the team knows a lot of the other competitors which adds to support system.
What’s next?
Next is Team Race Nationals in Tampa May 25-26. Team racing is definitely the preferred mode of sailing for our team, so we are looking forward to having a great time at nationals. Most of our practices all year revolve around team racing, so we feel pretty prepared.
Where are your seniors going to college? Is everyone planning on sailing?
Everyone is planning on sailing! Ian Barrows is going to Yale, Alec Tayler is going to Fordham, Kyle Brego is going to Mass Maritime, Isabelle Teare is going to Georgetown, Serena Cipullo is going to Connecticut College, and Jordan Ladd is going to MIT. Expect big things out of this group in college.
For full results click here: https://www.sail1design.com/airwaves-sailing-news/high-school-college-news/1107-mal2013
Ted Anderson photo
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