Sail1Designer
of the Month – Toms River High School South Sailing Team, Toms River NJ;
winners of the 2011 National Great Oaks Championship
of the Month – Toms River High School South Sailing Team, Toms River NJ;
winners of the 2011 National Great Oaks Championship
BY Sail1Design's MARTHA PITT
The Toms River team is a small but dedicated group of sailors, with just ten on the roster for this past fall season. Led by senior captains Charlie Nunn and Taylor Genander, the team sails out of the Toms River Yacht Club, located only a few miles from the high school. They use Ocean County College’s fleet of 420s and occasionally nearby Kean College’s FJs. Toms River is connected to the Barnegat Bay, which has a reputation for great sailing conditions of which the team can consistently take advantage. Matt Goetting, head coach of the Princeton University sailing team as well, splits his time between the two groups to coach the Toms River team along with Coach Randy Nunn. The team is also able to rely on some dedicated alumni to help them out whenever possible, including Olympic hopeful Clay Johnson, who helped to establish the team with his brother Reed back when they were in high school.
R. Whitlaw photo
Being in such a closely concentrated sailing area, the Toms River team shares water with a few other teams, and while they practice independently, they are often able to join up to do some team racing or larger fleet racing during practice. In addition to practicing, the team competes weekly in Wednesday afternoon regattas held by the New Jersey League, alternating between fleet and team racing, and in both varsity and JV events on
the weekends.
Though excelling at the Great Oaks Championship, according to the sailors, the whole season was successful from start to finish. Toms River is part of the MidAtlantic Scholastic Sailing Association, or MASSA. A-Division skipper Charlie Nunn was impressed with their success this season; “we had an excellent season; far better than I thought. I was really nervous going in because we graduated two seniors who were really important to the team”. But the remaining team seemed to have no problem filling picking up the slack, finishing 3rd at the Larry White Regatta, another high school intersectional regatta hosted by the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT, 4th at the MASSA Fall District Championship, and 3rd at the ISSA ACC Championship in Maryland.
And of course, at the Great Oaks Championship this fall, the Toms River High School South from Toms River, NJ came out on top, winning the event by just two points over Minnesota’s White Bear High School. The regatta’s format has varied as the event had grown, and this year was host to forty-two teams. On day one, the teams were split randomly into two fleets to race, and those scores determined the seeding for the second day of racing in either gold or silver fleet. Staying true to high school sailing as a team sport, all four sailors on the Toms River team were able to contribute to the victory! Nunn sailed with junior crews Shelby Jacobs and Jimmy Kennedy depending on the breeze, and Shelby’s sister Kiaya jumped in with her to skipper on the first day, winning the last two races to qualify them for the gold fleet. The team found their groove, relied on boat speed, and minimized mistakes to aim for the top five in each race on the final day. As a whole, they were happy with their performance, and thrilled to take home the victory. “We have had several regattas over the years where we just couldn’t break past a third or second place finish,” said Nunn, “so one of the best parts of Great Oaks was finally coming out on top. It was pretty cool knowing there were forty-two schools there from all over the country.”
When asked about what made the difference this season in leading the team to victory, the answer was unanimous: hard work, practice, and determination. Every member of the team helped push each other all season to prepare them for the national event, and they are excited to carry that momentum into the spring season. But as so many athletes know, being on a team is so much more than just winning regattas. Being on a team is about the camaraderie that comes with spending so much time with a group of people, and working together for a common goal. Says Genander when asked what she likes most about the team, “our team has always been a close group of kids. The parents and my teammates are a like a second family and we connect really well with our coach too… Sailing with them is pretty rad. Our team is serious, but we know how to kick it back and relax too. It’s the perfect balance for the perfect team.”
Congratulations
to the 2011 Fall Toms River High School South Team:
Charlie
Nunn 2012, captain
Taylor Genander
2012, captain
Shelby
Jacobs 2013
Jimmy
Kennedy 2013
Kiaya
Jacobs 2013
Bernie O’
Brien 2014
Aurora
Fotussky 2014
Mitchell
Nunn 2014
Joe
Gonzalez 2014
Matt
Roleke 2015
The unofficial fall championship, the Great Oaks Regatta hosted annually by the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, LA has become a coveted championship for high school teams to qualify for and win in the fall season. Open only to teams who have not competed in either spring high school championship in the past five years, the event is designed to give smaller though equally competitive teams a chance to compete at the national level. This year, the Toms River High School South team from Toms River, New Jersey came out as the victors of the event. Though a small team, these young sailors have figured out how to get the most from their time on the water and coaching, have excelled both locally and nationally, and have learned how to be a successful team both on and off the water.
Leave a Reply