2012 J/24 World Championship Final Results
“The Firefly Returns to the Charles”
Editors Note: We encourage more response from our readers on College Sailing Dinghies, past present & future, and we have had a lot of feedback from Zach Brown’s original article on the LaserPerformance Collegiate 420. We thought this piece on the Rondar Firefly was particularly well done and illuminates not only the boat, but it’s history in college sailing and, as it sounds, its bright future. Please keep the content coming. [email protected]
By Guest Writer Dan Rabin
 |
On opening weekend for college sailing this year, I coached the Brown University women’s team at the Toni Deutsch regatta hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before racing began, I was catching up with Fran Charles, MIT’s Sailing Master, and he mentioned something about how we could reef the Fireflies if the breeze came up as expected. I think I chuckled (I can’t tell when Fran is kidding any more), but sure enough, 2 hours and multiple capsizes later, Fran announced we would reef the boats after lunch. My team came out to the boat with a couple of tie downs, a sleeve, and expressions of confusion. I informed them that while they stared blankly at the boat and tried to will it to reef itself, I was going to watch Fran show the Yale team how to execute the operation. It’s actually pretty slick – one tie goes through a reef point on the leech around the boom, another goes through a reef point on the luff around the mast, and a custom sleeve zips to each side of the main to hold the excess foot. The best part of it all, we spent the afternoon racing, rather than waiting for people to get rescued. |
Courtesy Fran Charles
Like most sailors of recent generations, I largely associate the Firefly with the Wilson Trophy, a premier annual team race event in the UK. Turns out, this isn’t its first rodeo in the home of the free.
Origin and Early Years
The Firefly was designed in 1939 by Uffa Fox at the request of Cambridge and Oxford University sailors looking for a more suitable boat for team racing. World War II postponed production of the boat until 1946. At this time, Fox changed the name of the design from Sea Swallow to Firefly, in honor of the fighter planes utilized in the war.
The Firefly was actually used as a singlehanded boat in the 1948 Olympics, in which Paul Elvstrom won his first gold medal at the age of 20. The boat proved to be a bit much to handle alone, and was subsequently replaced by the Finn in the next Games. MIT, a pioneer of college sailing in the States, maintained a fleet of Fireflies throughout the 1950’s. After winning the co-ed national championship hosted by Cottage Park Yacht Club in Massachusetts Bay in 1961, MIT retired their Firefly fleet.
The Sequel
Fifty years later, members of that championship squad helped lead the effort to bring Fireflies back to the Charles River. Regarding some of the characteristics that attracted him to pursuing the venerable boat, Fran Charles explained, “We had heard that the boat could be sailed by heavier teams without a disadvantage in light air. In addition, a tapered mast with the vang led back allows sailors to learn more about mast bend and depowering techniques in breeze.” The extensive mast bend capability allows lighter teams to hang in heavier breeze, thereby extending the window before heavy air crews are needed.
Why is the boat less sensitive to crew weight differences? Generally speaking, the hull shape is narrow and deep, with a taper at the transom (pictured below). This means that changes in team weight do not translate to a significant change in wetted surface. This is in contrast to the planing hull of a 420, and to a lesser extent the Flying Junior.
Courtesy Rondar/MIT
The Firefly is also lighter than both the 420 and the FJ, giving it a bit more of a lively feel and promoting more frequent transitions between footing and pinching modes. The flip side of that liveliness is that the boat gets pretty squirrely downwind as the breeze picks up, even more so than an FJ. Think that the reefing will just be for women’s regattas? Think again. Thomas Barrows, recent Wilson Trophy Champion, explained that the West Kirby hosts “don’t hesitate to switch down to the storm sails…the crossover to instability happens quickly and they don’t want to fall behind on the rotation.”
It should also come as no surprise that the institution that in recent years has hosted regattas with downwind team racing starts and finishes (I can’t remember what Fran named it but I call it a Kamikaze), mid beat gates, and windward gates, also made some design tweaks to their Firefly fleet. Rondar Raceboats accommodated MIT with a modified hull for robustness, a rig design allowing for a higher boom, jib sheeting to a leeward track, and a gnav kicker system (a vang on steroids led back between the skipper and crew – similar to that of a Tufts Lark, it should be played in each puff and lull to maximize boat speed). The centerboard is a thick aluminum plate without gaskets in the trunk, and the boat comes up from capsizing relatively dry. The cost of the fleet was comparable to other alternatives, and Fran hopes to hold the fleet for at least 12 years.
Moving Forward
I’m a believer in the idea that boats aren’t better than one another, they’re just different. Maybe I need to tell myself that from too many years campaigning J24’s. In any case, no one can argue that racing different boats that require different skill sets and adjustments makes for better sailors. I learned about the concept of reefing on my parents’ Sabre 28 when I was a kid. During a lunch break on a dock 25 years later on the Charles River, a college junior asked “where are the reefed sails stored?” Chalk up another victory to the MIT Sailing Program in its mission of education, service, and enablement.
Reefed MIT Firefly / Courtesy Dan Rabin
An Insider’s Guide to the Boats of College Sailing
By Airwaves writer Zach Brown (please add your comments in our online forum at the bottom of this article.)
The announcement of the new Collegiate 420 by Laser Performance sprung an interesting discussion about the many boats available to collegiate sailing programs around the country. There are more dinghy manufacturers and more boat options than ever before. This article will discuss the current landscape of boats sailed at major programs, the increased fleet options available, and whether or not there is a competitive advantage to owning a specific fleet of boats.
The Current Landscape
Presently there are five doublehanded dinghies in college sailing: FJs, 420s, Fireflies, Techs, and Larks. Each boat is unique and teaches different skill sets that are all valuable to becoming a well rounded and successful sailor. The Holy Grail, also know as the perfect dinghy for all intercollegiate programs, simply cannot exist because not all sailing venues are the same. The best boat to sail on a small river or lake is not suitable for a choppy open water venue.
FJ
The FJ is the most common college sailing dinghy. Roughly fifty-four percent of programs own a fleet of FJs. Light teams weighing less than 260 pounds gain a significant advantage in soft winds. Strong winds favor a heavier combined crew weight of approximately 295 pounds. Bigger skippers benefit from balancing more weight aft in the boat, which pops up the bow and increases upwind and downwind speed.
Club 420
The Club 420 is the second most sailed boat of college sailing. Approximately forty-three percent of all programs throughout the country own a full fleet of 420s. The 420 has a very flat aft hull surface which dictates the quirks associated with the boat. While the flatness aides in stable planing, it makes sailing the boat over 275 pounds rather difficult in light winds due to all the wetted surface area. A light weight team of 255 pounds will have a speed advantage in less wind, but the very large centerboard powers the dinghy up dramatically in breezy conditions requiring much more crew weight. Schools must attend regattas sailed in 420s with a range of crew sizes to compete in varying wind velocities.
Firefly
The Firefly is a popular British University boat that has finally made its way into the American college sailing scene with a few modifications including a gnav strut kicker for the boomvang and a reef point so it’s easy to reduce sail area in windy conditions. Although Fireflies are currently only sailed at MIT on the Charles River in Boston, don’t be surprised to see more fleets popping up at universities limited to flat water shifty venues.
The deep hull is a fully rounded surface which makes it possible for heavier teams to be equally competitive with smaller ones in light winds. The tapered mast depowers the mainsail in heavy breeze so larger teams do not gain a relative advantage. Quick crew work is a requisite for the firefly because tacking is fast and favorable. The Firefly is the ultimate short course team race dinghy that gets around the race course easily in light winds and rarely has kinetics rules violations.
Tech Dinghy
Even though it’s only raced at MIT and UW Madison, the infamous Tech Dinghy is a staple for the NEISA and MCSA districts. This simple design created in 1935 has set the technology curve in college sailing multiple times; first with the introduction of fiberglass boat building technology in 1953 and now in 2012 with its 6th generation creation of an all carbon boat. Over 2000 people are introduced to sailing through the Tech Dinghy every year. The indestructible Techs are a flat water venue dinghy suitable for singlehanded or doublehanded racing. The boats are easy to tack and great for light wind shifty conditions.
Techs are famous for equaling the playing field of college sailing because everyone has the same boat speed and there is no benefit to sailing light. It is almost a rite of passage in NEISA to have a mental breakdown in a Tech on the Charles River due to the competitive nature of Techs and the challenging venue of the River. Overcoming the challenge of the Tech Dinghy teaches sailors plenty of lessons that are valuable for the rest of their sailing career.
Some new designs for MIT’s 6th generation Tech Dinghy include: increased sail area to 84 sq ft, mainsheet controlled from mid boom instead end of boom, ease of planing, greater speed that exceeds FJs and 420s in many conditions, and ease of recovery after a capsize with minimal water to bail.
Lark
The Lark is only raced in college sailing regattas at Tufts University in a suburb of Boston, but Wesleyan University in Connecticut and many British Universities sail the boat as well. The Lark is incredibly similar to a Firefly with its hull shape, bendy rig, and ease to tack. The Tufts Larks could not suit Mystic Lake better with its extra large square top main sail and carbon rig making it easy to get races off and have productive practices in shifty unreliable wind conditions. An ideal flat water venue dinghy, the Lark is one of the fastest boats in college sailing. Because the Lark accelerates so quickly and speed almost doubles, sailors can sometimes chase a filling puff instead of waiting for it to arrive.
The Changing Landscape
College sailing equipment is changing rapidly due to the design of new boats and emergence of more boat builders. The sport is improving from the increased focus of boat builders like Laser Performance, Rondar Raceboats USA, and Zim Sailing. The battleground for these manufacturers takes place on the price, durability, quality, service, and suitability of the boats.
Laser Performance
Laser Performance produces the majority of college sailing boats through the traditional offering of the Club 420 and the FJ. Over the last few years Laser Performance has committed considerable resources redesigning the 420 for increased speed, performance, and durability while maintaining the price point. The exact release date for the Laser Performance Collegiate 420 hasn’t been released yet, but it has been confirmed that St. Mary’s College will host the 2014 ICSA Coed College Sailing Nationals in this new dinghy. Features of the Collegiate 420 include a core layer in the hull and deck that makes the boat twenty pou
nds lighter and significantly stronger with a closed forward bulkhead. Other small changes include inboard jib leads, an integrated bow bumper, and new fittings.
Rondar Raceboats USA
Rondar Raceboats has been making high quality boats since 1964. Their success is well known in non-college sailing classes such as the 505, Firefly, Viper 640, and the K6. This long established “new comer” to college sailing offers sailing programs the choices of the Rondar 420, the Firefly, and the Tech Dinghy. The Rondar 420 is similar to the Collegiate 420 with two forward bulkheads, a fully cored hull, and resin infusion. Although initial pricing is slightly higher than the mainstream brands, Rondar’s representative claimed the “whole life” costs of their boats are considerably cheaper than any of the current choices. MIT has bought into this idea with a fleet of Rondar 420s, 20 Rondar Fireflies, and a new fleet of Rondar made Carbon Tech Dinghies.
Zim Sailing
Zim 420s and FJs are another new comer to the college sailing scene. Zim has already made its way into the hands of many schools including Columbia University, Fordham University, SUNY Maritime, University of Connecticut, and University of New Hampshire. SUNY Maritime coach Russ O’Reilly has been pleased with the boats, the service, and the price of his Zim 420s. O’Reilly specifically noted that the service was top notch with each boat assembled, tested, and inspected by a team of Zim builders.
Competitive Advantage?
With five unique college boats available now, new boats coming in the near future, and three different boat manufacturers, fleet selection become harder for some college sailing programs. Clearly there is a competitive advantage to owning some FJs because the majority of college sailing interconference regattas are raced in FJs. But, that does not mean every school should have a full fleet of FJs. Selecting the proper dinghy based on the conditions of a program’s venue is the top priority. Supplementing the fleet with a group of at least six other boats is a great way to diversify and properly prepare for each weekend’s regatta.
Breathing Life Into an 80 Year Old Class: The Comet
Designed by C. Lowndes Johnson in 1932, 2012 marks the 80th year of the Comet Class. A one design boat often referred to as a miniature Star, the Comet measures 16 feet long, 5 feet abeam and weighs 265 pounds. Sailed by 2 people, the boat has a semi-flat bottom, 140 square feet of sail and planes quickly. The class boasts that they have new and used competitive boats, both fiber glass and the classic wood, available from $1000 to $2500. [Read more…] about Breathing Life Into an 80 Year Old Class: The Comet
Fleet Replenishment and Maintenance
Bob Adam – Zim Sailing
As the summer wraps up, programs quickly transition their thoughts towards their needs for next summer. These discussions typically revolve around what to do with the fleet. Do we patch our boats to “squeak” one more year out of them? Do we make them look all pretty to sell them? When is the right time to “turn” our fleet? What boats are right for us? Doing nothing will lead to a very long summer next year!
Repair the fleet? Our yard is already filled with 420’s and Opti’s. After a hard summer boats are peppered with the typical dings. Many of the issues are very minor gel coat chips and every now and again the major collision has occurred. Generally speaking, $300 per C420 can go a long way towards keeping your fleet looking great. For $200 per boat or less, you can keep your Opti fleet in top shape. In addition, a thorough cleaning of each boat will make them look great. How many white hulls are now covered in scum or stained? It is relatively painless to wash the hull down with Oxiclean or On/Off to bring back the white.
How are your lines, parts and standing rigging? Since much of your maintenance budget has been absorbed through the summer you may not be in a position to replace parts now. However, you should be taking a thorough inventory of what needs to be done. Simply go through each boat and keep a detailed list. If the lines are worn it is relatively painless to replace them. Look over all of shrouds and forestays and replace them before the mast falls down. How did your ring dings fair? Are you using the proper clevis pins? Proper care to the fleet will give the students greater pride and respect for the fleet. If the students understand how much care the instructors and Board of Directors have for the fleet then they will in turn be held to a higher standard and help keep the fleet looking good next summer.
Sell the fleet? Your fleet, no matter how old it is, is worth something and very valuable to somebody. Used fleets are available but there is absolutely a shortage of boats given the number of people looking for them. Depending on your budget and usage, turning your fleet every 4-6 years will yield you the highest return. There are a few different ways to go about this. You can either replace the entire fleet at once or a few boats each year. The best places to advertise are www.sail1design.com, www.club420.org and www.usoda.org. 420’s and Opti’s have a very high resale value and you might be surprised on how much money is available to offset the purchase of your new fleet.
Buying a used fleet? Clubs will start looking for used boats early in the fall. If you are looking for a used fleet, it is best to have money approved to be able to pull the trigger right away. If you need to get approval to buy a used fleet it is very likely that the fleet will be long gone by next week. 420’s can be found for $2,500 – $4,500 and Opti’s can range from $1,000 – $1,600 depending on the condition. The lower range will need repair work to hulls and rigging. See the websites above for used boat listings.
Buying a new fleet? We offer specials throughout the end of the year on new fleets. This is your best way to save thousands of dollars. We can be very creative to help assist in your new purchase. To secure your new fleet we would need a commitment by year end but the earlier the better. This will give us the best chance to sell your existing fleet.
Why should our program sail Opti’s?
Optimists are designed for kids. They can handle them without danger or fear
The Opti is basic enough that a 6 year old can sail it with confidence.
Over 150,000 kids in over 110 countries. Making it the most popular training boat in the world.
The kids have a blast meeting new friends from this country and if they choose, abroad.
The skills developed transfer to any boat the kid moves into after Opti’s.
Former Optimist sailors were over 85% of medal winners at the last Olympics.
The only dinghy recognized by ISAF exclusively for sailors under age 16.
Why should our program sail C420’s?
Club 420’s are the most popular double-handed boat in the country
420’s are the boat of choice for junior programs looking to teach spinnaker, trapeze and teamwork.
Competitive racing takes place throughout the year with regattas drawing dozens of boats.
Club 420’s are the perfect training platform for college sailing.
Why should our program sail FJ’s?
The CFJ is a fantastic teaching boat for programs looking to teach spinnaker and teamwork.
The CFJ can also be used with an instructor and 2-3 kids as a learn to sail boat.
The CFJ class association has a competitive race schedule on the west coast.
Like the 420, it is a fabulous training boat for college sailing and beyond.
All of these boats are safe, durable and fun!
Best of luck determining your fleet needs. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call to help you through this process.
or email [email protected].
Bob Adam
Zim Sailing
ADDISON HACKSTAFF, WINNER OF THE SMYTHE TROPHY – AUGUST’S SAIL1DESIGNER OF THE MONTH
By Martha Pitt
Every year, junior sailors from around the country compete in their regional qualifiers to qualify for US Sailing’s prestigious Chubb Junior Championships. The championship event includes sailors in singlehanded, doublehanded, and triplehanded boats for the Smythe, Bemis, and Sears Trophies. The event encourages nationwide program development, allowing kids from each of the districts around the country to compete.
This year, US Sailing shook the competition up a bit! While the doublehanded competitors stayed in the traditional Club420, the single and triplehanded crews were thrown for a bit of a loop when the championships were announced – the “triplehanded” championship for the Sears Trophy was to be sailed in J-22s and due to weight requirements, the crews were able to go up to four sailors (which all did). In the singlehanded fleet, though most sailors qualified by sailing the Laser Radial, the finals for the Smythe Trophy were sailed in the Byte CII, a light, twelve-foot boat whose strict one-design class rules make it a true test of seamanship rather than superior equipment. Though many sailors in the fleet had little-to-no experience in the boat, some could say that that leveled the playing field and allowed raw talent to emerge.
Out of that fleet emerged one sailor victorious over all others – Addison Hackstaff from St. Petersburg, FL commanded the Byte fleet, winning seven of the ten races, and finishing six points ahead of the second place Clay Broussard of Houston, TX. Originally from St. Thomas, USVI, 16 year old Hackstaff grew up sailing in the islands learning to sail and race in optis. At the St. Thomas Yacht Club, Addison found himself in the shadows of many great sailors but was able to watch them and learn from the best. Over the past eight years of his sailing career, Addison has progressed immensely sailing Laser Radials, 420s, Snipes, J24s, Sonars, and just about any boat he can jump on – in 2010, he represented the Virgin Islands in the Central American and Caribbean Games skippering a Snipe with his father crewing. Now living in Florida and attending Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Addison’s sailing career seems to just be blossoming.
I was able to talk to Addison for a bit about the event, his success, and his future in racing:
Bytes are relatively new on the national youth scene. Had you sailed them much before? What made you decide to want to sail this event in that boat?
I’ve never sailed Bytes before and decided to sail in this event because my coach told me about the regatta and I wanted to compete in a National Championship. The bytes themselves were good boats. I liked the sail – it was huge compared to the size of the boat. It was crucial to get the right sail shape; other sails you just pull on controls and go.
What kind of training did you do before the event?
I hadn’t sailed a singlehanded boat for about 2 months before this event but, I taught sailing at the SPYC camp all summer. Also, I sailed Snipe nationals and junior nationals (3rd) in June. I was very happy for the clinic day to shake out the rust.
What did you think of the San Francisco Bay?
I loved the San Francisco Bay. It was freezing but the wind and sailing were amazing.
What were the conditions like at the event? True to San Francisco standards of heavy wind and ripping current?
The conditions were between 14-18 kts the whole event with a flood current most do the time. This made the waves a little smaller but there were still lots of them. The conditions were very true to San Francisco standards – windy, wavy, and lots of current. Survival mode.
How did you like the conditions? What are your favorite kinds of sailing conditions, if any?
I loved the conditions. Medium to heavy wind with any kind of waves or current are my favorite, so they were perfect for me.
What would you say some of your strengths were for the regatta?
One of my strengths for the regatta was my understanding of sail shape and adjustments from all the different boats I’ve sailed. It was not extremely hard for me to acclimate. Another was my size – I could hike hard and sail flatter than some of the smaller competitors. Also, St Thomas has big winds and waves, so I was very comfortable sailing San Francisco’s conditions.
What do you think were the greatest factors that led to your success at the regatta?
I think my success came from quick acclamation to the byte.
What’s up next for you? Will you be sailing much this fall or winter?
I plan on sailing as many events that I can around the southeast and some further away- I’m planning on sailing the Cressy qualifier and ISAF youth worlds qualifier [in the Laser Radial].
Are you interested in college sailing? If so, where are you looking at?
Yes I am very interested in college sailing. I am currently looking at The US Naval Academy as my first choice with the US Coast Guard Academy, U of Miami and many other Universities with strong Engineering and sailing programs.
Keep an eye out for Addison on the top of the leader boards at future national events!
Editors Note
EDITORS NOTE A recent article appeared in Airwaves referencing the “New Collegiate 420.” We received some feedback that this boat is not the “official” college-sanctioned boat, and we would like to apologize for any misunderstanding, and if the title of the article was misleading, our most sincere apologies. Since LaserPerformance is a long-time Sail1Design sponsor, we want to make clear that Airwaves articles are available to our sponsors to promote their products that have value to our community. We also accept articles from anyone, and will be happy to print if they fit our demographic. We continue to believe that this is an informative and well-founded piece on LaserPerformance’s new boat. We hope to follow up with more articles on all the new choices potentially available to college sailing programs, including the Rondar Firefly, (www.rondarboats.com) and Rondars new 420 as well. Zim Sailing (www.zimsailing.com) is another company making great strides with collegiate/youth boats. It is exciting that the evolution of college sailing boats is taking place, and our hope was to bring that to light, one boat at a time. Feel free to add a comment to the Collegiate 420 article online, and/or contact Sail1Design: [email protected]
Collegiate Dinghies
Another option is the new Rondar Collegiate 420 which Rondar Raceboats North America is building at their Peabody USA factory. Its being tested at two major college programs. Rondar built the new Fireflies for MIT and they are very nice.
Count Down to College Sailing, NEISA Edition
Sail1Design would like to officially welcome another new member to the Airwaves team, Kelly Stannard, whose bio is below her first news story. Enjoy
Summer is over, college sailors have to say goodbye to the Jr. Programs where they have taught, done last minute back to school shopping, packed and unpacked their cars and many have started classes. It is now just t-minus two weekends until college sailors all over New England will hit the water and end their short hiatus away from the rigorous college sailing lifestyle.
With many NEISA schools starting classes this week, practice will start too. New gear, new sails, and new teammates will all be brought out to shake off the summer rust and get ready for the first weekend of competition. Which NEISA team will come out of the gates strong?
Determining which co-ed NEISA team is the most powerful or most successful has never been easy to predict because the conference has such a dense talent pool. Head coach Yale Zach Leonard said it best, “NEISA is so hard; every team has potential to be great. There are so many teams that do well, it is hard to say just one, I see about eight or nine teams that will do well. “
Who is on “top” often flip-flops and changes countless times from the start of a season to the end. What we can look at is the results from the ICSA 2012 spring championships and see who graduated their all-stars. In no particular order, below are some profiles of teams who will likely be at the top of the rankings at the beginning of the season.
Yale had to say goodbye to several key players on their team like the A-division combo of Joe Morris and Isabel Elliman. “There are three skippers who will be in a position to step up. Whoever is sailing consistently will sail,” says Coach Leonard.
The team still has three more years with Graham Landy who was named an All-American as a freshman and NEISA rookie of the year. Paired up with Landy is Heather May who will be a senior; she too was an All-American and NEISA crew of the year in the spring season. Chris Segerblom and Cam Cullman are also still around who alternated through the top team will certainly be strong players this year and aid in making Yale a tough team to beat in fleet racing this fall.
Boston College graduated their co-ed and women’s A-division All-American skipper Annie Haeger and one of their several rock star crew’s Briana Provancha. Still holding down the fort is sophomore William Bailey who as a freshman last year skippered on their team race team and frequently was seen as their B-division as well as junior skipper Alex Cook. This team still has two of their top three skippers and a deep line-up of crews such as All-American Laura McKenna, which will make BC a force to be reckoned with as usual.
Roger Williams was the top finishing NEISA team placing second at the 2012 ICSA Dingy National Championship graduated B-division duo Sean Bouchard and Kelly Stannard along with a top crew, Tyler Wilson. College sailor of the year finalist Alec Anderson along with sophomore Tyler MacDonald, last years third skipper of their team race team, will both be sailing at top events this fall.
“Tyler Macdonald, Max Lopez, and Sam Bobo will likely be making a step up”, says coach Callahan. With these tops players named and a depth of talent on the B team will push Roger Williams to have consistent top finishes this season.
Brown didn’t graduate any of their A-team sailors, which will certainly mean we should expect this team to perform very well in the fall season. They have skippers Colin Smith who was named an All American Honorable Mention, Tommy Fink and Tyler Rice along with their crews, All-American Luisa Chaffee, Ashley Noble and Molly Bernstein. With a returning cast like this, top finishes in fleet racing can be anticipated throughout the fall.
Harvard skippers Brendan Kopp and Emily Lambert have graduated but historically Harvard is a team with some depth with several players who should be able to keep them on top of the competition list. They have the Drumm brothers, Michael and Brian and also solid crews such as Sarah Pierson to keep the team alive and well for fall fleet racing.
Tufts graduated their B division skipper Massimo Soriano but will still have A division skipper and crew Will Haeger and Paula Grasberger who will only be juniors this year. Along with them is senior skipper William Hutchings, all will likely see lots of tiller time this fall. Led by seasoned coach Ken Legler the Tuft’s Jumbo’s can never be underestimated as a threat.
URI is a quickly advancing team, this will be their second year having Nick Ewenson as head coach. The Ram’s graduated their A division duo of Amy Hawkins and Caroline Hall. Coach Ewensen says, “Sophomores Caleb Armstrong and Katie Norton made huge strides last spring and were real contributors as freshman. More opportunities will come their way this year, and with a full season under their belts, I’m hopeful they can start right where they left off last year.”
Dartmouth has a strong coaching staff with co-head coaches John Storch and Justin Assad to lead this young and quick team to good places this fall. The Big Green graduated A division skipper Sam Williams but from the top squad remains his crew Matthew Habig and the B division team of Matthew Wefer and Avery Plough to keep the team at the top.
MIT had a strong year last year but missed qualifying for semis by losing a tie-break in coeds, and missed it by just two spots on the women’s side. Coach Matt Cohen has said, “With hard work and lots of talent, the Engineers are looking to avenge those near misses.” In addition, “Our team is looking to have a very strong year in ’12-’13. Despite graduating a top skipper and crew per squad (Eamon Glackin and AllAmerican crew Steph Tong on the coed side, Katii Gullick and Jacqui
Soegaard on the women’s side), we are supplementing our returning
sailors with a strong group of recruits,” explains Cohen.
Boston University had a successful 2011-2012 season capped off with a 12th place finish at the Gill Dinghy National Championship in Austin, TX. They graduated both their A and B division skippers leaving lots of room for underclassmen to fill big shoes this fall season. The Terriers have historically always been right in the top mix, this will likely hold true this fall.
These are only ten teams from the long list of excellent teams that call NEISA their home. Per usual this season will provide exciting and close competition on all levels from intersectional events to the central and southern series events. You can follow results on Techscore.com throughout the season and we recommend you keep an eye out for some upsets in results, no team in NEISA is ever very far from the top of the fleet.
http://neisa.collegesailing.org/
Kelly Stannard is a recent communications graduate from Roger Williams where she was drawn to the small school feel and the big sailing team potential. While attending school Kelly was the captain of her team her junior and senior year when the team won the 2011 ICSA Team Race Nationals and placed second at the 2012 ICSA National Championship. In addition to the teams’ success Kelly was named an All-American Crew three times and the RWU Female Athlete of the year. In non- collegiate events Kelly was part of team Minor Threat who won the US Sailing Team Race Nationals in 2011. Kelly interned at US Sailing, working with marketing and communications team, she helped maintain their blog and social media outlets.
Kelly was born in Connecticut and lives in Salem, a short drive to Niantic where she learned to sail in Opti’s and 420’s at Niantic Bay Yacht Club. She found success in junior sailing, posting respectable finishes at the US Sailing Youth Champ’s in 2006 and 2007, highlighted by winning the Ida Lewis Trophy in 2007. She just finished up her summer as the head coach of Wickford Sailing Association and is applying for full-time positions currently. Kelly enjoys team racing and looks forward to trying out new classes of boats.
You can reach Kelly at : [email protected]
2012 Melges 24 North American Championship Results
San Francisco, California
Overall Group 1
[Read more…] about 2012 Melges 24 North American Championship Results
A New Experience: Racing at Night
By Airwaves writer Elizabeth Dudley
Along with Match Racing, this summer, I had the pleasure of adding yet another new sailing experience to my growing list: racing at night.
I had two overnight races on my schedule: the race to
Prior to sailing the race from
That first race, the race to Solomons, was on a particularly cloudy night—too cloudy for a moon or stars. It made for a very dark race, interspersed only with the occasional red light from one of our flashlights used to grab snacks or check the sail.
In fact, it was so dark it was eerie. There was not enough light even to see shadows. At one point, we were coming closer and closer to a white light that was floating in the air, not moving. At first, we had all correctly deduced that it was a boat, although we were at first unable to tell whether it was moving or anchored. But as we continued to move closer to it, where we expected to see the outline of a hull, there was nothing. As we sailed directly by it we were able to barely make out the form of an anchored sailboat. But I think it safe to say that it spooked us. The night was playing tricks on us.
Adding to the eeriness level of our trip was the fact that one of the marks we were to honor during the race was a lighthouse. According to the charts, we should have been able to see the 4-second flashing white light of the lighthouse when we were 9 miles out. The GPS was informing us in which direction the lighthouse ought to be and how far we were from it. But as we got closer, within that 9 mile window, there was no 4-second flashing white light that we could see.
As boredom continued to set in, discussion would randomly break out as to why we were still unable to see this apparent lighthouse. Most agreed that the light was probably out. Ironic sure, but it made the most logical sense. Others were convinced we just hadn’t seen it yet. By 3am our skipper, tired of hearing the same discussion over and over, strongly stated that it was in fact a lighthouse, that there was no way the light could be out and that we needed to stop talking about it.
A couple hundred feet away from where the lighthouse was supposed to be, we watched the running lights of a boat just ahead of us pass behind a large dark mass—the lighthouse—the light was out.
That was the nature of my first overnight race. Until the sun started to rise, we had to blindly trust our GPS and our own instincts. It was hard to even see our other competitors. And as distance races go, this was short and down the
My second overnight race experience was the Governor’s Cup, a race from
But no mater how much moon there is, it is still difficult to see waves coming towards you and pretty much impossible to see the breeze on the water. Darkness adds a completely different element to a sport that is already full of constantly changing factors. It makes life a bit more difficult on a sailboat and even more so as sleep deprivation sets in.
Things that already happen quickly happen even quicker as you can not necessarily see them coming. It can be genuinely difficult to stay awake. And it is rather easy to let the night play tricks on your eyes. But for me, these are take-aways from only one night spent on the water. How do those that race much longer distances do it night after night? And the two nights I spent on the water, minus the cloud cover, were perfect nights. What if the weather had not been so cooperative? I would be curious to here stories of those who did not have the best possible conditions on their overnight sails, we all know those stories are out there.
But as tiring and difficult as racing at night may be, I would still recommend that everyone try it at least once. Y
ou see the sunset and then the sunrise and in the middle, assuming all is well on the boat, there is a calm that I am not sure I can properly put into words. While everyone at home is asleep, you get to be out on the water, viewing the silent world from a different perspective. The feeling of being on the water at night is a feeling that can not be replicated in another scenario. The only way to experience it is to let the sun set and go for a sail.
