Blog

First in a monthly series of Featured One-Design People, Places, or Things. If you want to submit your “Sail1Designer of the Month” let us know!   editor@sail1design.com

By Sail1Design’s Martha Pitt

For years, collegiate sailing teams from the Midwest district have been struggling to keep up with their competitors on the coasts. Lacking the resources and full-time coaching that many other teams have, many MCSA (Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association) teams have fallen behind the improvement and competitive trends found in other districts around the country and that lag has taken them out of the forefront of competition. But one MCSA team has been been making the push to put themselves in the forefront of collegiate racing and emerged this season as one of the strongest teams on the race course. Located on Lake Mendota in Madison, WI, the University of Wisconsin Badgers have been climbing the ranks and are quickly becoming one of the most competitive teams in the country.

For the first time in club history, the Wisconsin Badgers have broken the Top 10 in the College Rankings, signifying that the hard work and determination by this student-run team is certainly paying off. Certainly an underdog going into the season, not even ranked in the top 20 in Sailing World’s pre-season outlook, they took everyone by surprise! After winning the Harry Anderson and Fall Fury regattas early in the season, they jumped as high as 6^th place in the rankings, and are now settled in 10^th. While they have recently brought on a regular coach to help run practices and organize team members, the sailing team is the epitome of a student organization and has been built off of great leadership, hard work, and the ambition to be the best. Their success has come from the incredible emotional investment that the sailors put into how the team performs both on the water at practice and regattas, but as a cohesive team as well. This personal investment of time and energy by all members of the team has propagated great sailors and a team atmosphere of which any aspiring college sailor should yearn to be a part.

While the captains and board still make all of the regatta berth decisions, coordinate travel plans, do fundraising, and lead general team organization, new coach Dave Elsmo has been tremendously helpful in contributing to roster line-ups, hosting regattas, and running practices. Having Elsmo at practices has really brought more intensity to the team; practices have become much more efficient than they were when run by team members, allowing the sailors to focus exclusively on their own sailing. Part of the team is on the road almost every weekend, some traveling around the district, others often heading east to compete.

While the sailors at the top of the team are extremely talented athletes competing at the highest level, the team is also welcoming to many newer sailors who don’t have as much racing experience when they join. Since the team does not hold tryouts or cut people, the base on which the talent can grow is very wide. Just about every 420 and FJ are filled at practice each day, exemplifying the level of dedication among the sailors. When not in season, the team maintains a regular fitness training schedule, working out together at the campus recreational facility, as well as getting together to play any kind of outdoor games of physical activity when sailing is unavailable. They also plan a spring break trip every year to take advantage of time in a warmer climate.

The leadership demonstrated by the top sailors on the team creates an atmosphere in which any aspiring sailor will strive, and that positive and motivational attitude has begun to attract more and more great sailors to the school. Look out for the University of Wisconsin Badgers to continue climbing the ranks this season, and to come out strong leading up to the spring championships!

More questions answered by the team: When was your team founded? 1954 What does a typical practice look like? Promptly at 2:30 coach Dave Elsmo starts practice in the basement of the memorial union with a summary drills that the team will be doing as well as key things to work on. He then gives every one their pairings, at which point the team gets dressed, rigs boats, and goes out for some intense sailing.  Common drills that we run must be kept confidential. Sailors are off the water at around 5:30 at which point all individuals help de-rig boats until all are put away correctly.  Dave then debriefs the sailing with a breakdown chant to conclude practice. From where does most of your funding come? Most of the team’s budget comes from alumni donations and team fundraising, with a small portion of annual funding coming from the school and team dues. How is being on the sailing team different than other sports at your school? The sailing team is an extremely unique sport at Wisconsin.  We’re a student run organization, and we have a blast. We all genuinely love the sport, and we are consistently focused on improvement, regardless the weather. We don’t have multiple coaches, vast funding, great facilities, or good travel accommodations, but we have a great time and we compete at a very high level. What is your favorite thing about your sailing team in particular? We love that every weekend is a spent with our best friends. It’s a great escape from reality to get out on the water every day. For more information on the University of Wisconsin Sailing Team, visit them at www.UWSailingTeam.org

By Airwaves Reporter Renee DeCurtis

The Treasure Island Sailing Center and UC Berkley hosted the annual Stoney Burke college regatta October 15-16 in San Francisco California.  Twenty four college teams traveled from all areas of the west coast including the University of Hawaii and the University of Puget Sound who traveled the farthest.  The Stoney Burke regatta is the final stop for the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference fall schedule.  The competition at this event is always deep as many of the participants have grown up sailing against each other since their junior sailing years throughout the United States.  “My favorite part of sailing in college regattas is the ability to compete at a high level, especially against sailor’s that I grew up with”, stated one A division skipper.

Untypical to bay area weather the conditions were ideal on Saturday with clear skies and great breeze.  Sunday’s weather was a bit more usual for the area’s winter conditions with grey skies and lighter winds, but it still made for a great venue as the Treasure Island Sailing Center is perfect for spectating.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa took advantage of the ideal conditions and walked away from the regatta with the big win for the third year in a row.  With a total of 59 points in A division and 48 in B division, the Rainbow Warriors topped the results with a total of 107 points for the win. “More than a couple teams, this time, came into the regatta thinking they could win, which made the competition exciting”, stated the first place skipper in A division Adam Pokras from the University of Hawaii.  Pokras, originally from Marina Del Rey California, and crew Cienna Patmont focused on consistency to keep their team on top.  Pokras credits his success over the weekend to being conservative, “Throughout the weekend we had a very conservative game plan.  We tried for conservative starts, and conservative fleet management.  Our scores weren’t phenomenal, but they were consistent.  We just tried to control what was controllable”. UCLA’s Judge Ryan, who grew up sailing in San Diego, gave the Hawaii Warriors a run for their money with multiple top ten finishes to give him and his crew, Amy Stuyvesant, second in A division. Other teams finishing in the top ten in A division included, UCLA (68), USC (71), USC Women’s (75), Cal Maritime (78), UCSB (79), Stanford (80), U of Oregon (88), CSU Channel Islands (96),  and U of Washington (98).

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos B division team of Nicholas Kaschak and Kimberly Sultz sealed the deal to win the division with all but one of their finishes being single digits.  Michael Hanson and Taylor Nidds from the University of Hawaii finished second in B division with 48 points to solidify the overall win for the Rainbow Warriors.  Rounding out the top ten in B division starting with third place, Cal Maritime (56), USC (61), USC Womens (70), U of Oregon (71), Stanford (100), Chapman University (125), tying for 10^th was UCLA (127) and UC Berkley (127).

As is each college regatta, the individual division results are combined for overall scores.  The results of this regatta are important since those finishing in the top of the fleet get first pick at which east coast regattas they wish to travel to in the spring.  The Rainbows and Gauchos will have first pick at the most popular east coast events.  Other teams placing in the top ten included, USC in third with a total of 132 points, Cal Maritime (134), USC Women’s (145), U of Oregon (159), Stanford (180), UCLA (195), U of Washington (239), UC Berkley (267)

The next big event for west coast college sailing will be in the Aloha state at the University of Hawaii annual Peter Wenner Memorial Regatta held at Keehi Lagoon in January 2012.  Starting in the spring, all if not most of the west coast teams will begin their battle to qualify for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association College Sailing Nationals.  The road to nationals is always a difficult one, but to have the chance at participating in one of the most competitive sailing events in the world is well worth all the hard work and traveling.  Stay posted as Sailing1design will continue to report on all the action leading up to nationals at the University of Texas in May/June 2012.

Full Team Results are posted below…

Smooth Sailing!

Renee DeCurtis

Score summary

Order by: AllAB

#		School	Team	A		B		TOT
1		University of Hawaii	Rainbows	59		48		107
2		University of California at Santa Barbara	Gauchos	79		38		117
3		University of Southern California	Trojans	71		61		132
4		California Maritime Academy	Keelhaulers	78		56		134
5		University of Southern California	Trojans 2	75		70		145
6		University of Oregon	Ducks	88		71		159
7		Stanford University	Cardinal	80		100		180
8		University of California at Los Angeles	Bruins	68		127		195
9		University of Washington	Huskies 2	98		141		239
10		University of California at Berkeley	Berkeley	140		127		267
11		University of California at Irvine	Anteaters	149		157		306
12		University of California at San Diego	UC San Diego	125		193		318
13		Chapman University	Panthers	197		125		322
14		California State University Channel Islands	Channel Islands	96		227		323
15		Western Washington University	Vikings 2	181		149		330
16		Western Washington University	Vikings	160		181		341
17		University of California at Davis	UC Davis	166		183		349
18		University of Washington	Huskies	178		181		359
19		University of California at Berkeley	Berkeley 2	221		145		366
20		Santa Clara University	Santa Clara	203		166		369
21		University of California at Santa Cruz	UC Santa Cruz	187		184		371
22		Cal State University at Monterey Bay	CSUMB Varsity	198		184		382
23		Cal Poly University S.L.O.	Cal Poly	205		199		404
24		University of Puget Sound	Puget Sound	202		211		413