Final Weekend of Racing for Middlebury Panthers!

Another great weekend for the MCSC! We were fortunate to travel to Boston to compete in two events and Newport, RI to race for Salve Regina’s Sister Esther Trophy.

We were lucky to have two beautiful days of sailing with gusty North to Northwest breeze, sunny skies, and comfortable temperatures.

From Jade Forsberg:

After navigating through the maze of streets in Boston and debating whether the regatta was named the No Ringer or Noringer, we finally arrived at the BU sailing center. We were blessed with an unseasonably warm fall day and a great, though still shifty, breeze (about 10-13kts with stronger gusts). A fleet promptly headed out and while they all seemed eager to sail, some just couldn’t resist taking a dip in the Charles with such great weather! Once races started it became apparent that there was very little room for error, especially amongst the top boats in the fleet. After only 4 races, the race committee decided to end early, leaving Midd with a solid 11th place out of 18. While our sailors were sad not to have more time on the water they were very pleased with their performance including some very good, consistent starts in B fleet. 
 
Sunday was a bit colder, but even more sunny as the team headed down to MIT for the Crew’s regatta – involving a true test of trust between skipper and crew. Dylan Quenneville and Vick Xu took the helm for their first regatta as skippers and asserted themselves on the racecourse. Vick demonstrated a keen willingness to master the infamous tech dinghy, showing great improvement between his races, while Dylan became the master of starts, wining most of them in A fleet. The wind was slightly lighter than Saturday but ten times as shifty, making racing a feat of well-calculated strategy and a fair bit of luck. We ended the day with a 10th overall from our crews-turned-skippers and headed home just in time for dinner, still debating whether we sailed the No Ringer or Noringer on Saturday. 
IMG_3720
Nate, Lexie, Dylan, Vick, and Jade at the MIT Crews regatta

Noringer/No-Ringer results and Crews results.

In Newport, the Panthers raced against 19 other schools in a competitive regatta, also featuring excellent sailing conditions. Newport is known for excellent sailing conditions and a vibrant sailing culture. It is always exciting to be able to sail on the ocean in November surrounding by massive yachts and beautiful oceanside mansions!
In two days of sunny skies, both divisions sailed 11 races, all of which were W4s. Both days featured a strong incoming tide, making some tactical decisions difficult. Along with a few crazy wind shifts, the course was hardly an easy one to decipher and conquer. In A Division, Ben Brown and Alden Cowap had a few excellent starts throughout the regatta, giving the team some solid results. At this level of competition, it can be difficult to hold your position throughout the entirety of the race. In B Division, Alex Baskin and Rebecca Freeman sailed an excellent regatta, finding numerous opportunities to make great gains on windward legs by finding large lanes on lifted tacks. Sunday’s sailing started off great, with Ben and Alden sailing a very commanding race and taking a second place. Though the rest of the results were not all single digit finishes, we were happy with our progress over the weekend and our ability to approach different racecourse situations to avoid fouls and improve on our previous days mistakes. We are getting closer to stringing together stronger, complete races with each regatta. We were very happy to have family members come watch the sailing on Sunday and providing delicious donuts for the sailors!
Overall, the Panthers finished 15th overall, including numerous strong finishes over top teams. Great job to all sailors this weekend! Thanks to John and his crew at Salve for hosting a great event.
See full results and summary here.
image
Rebecca, Commodore Meghan, Coach Alex, Alex, Alden and Ben in front of a beautifully blue Newport harbor
The team now moves into boat and dock removal before Lake Dunmore freezes! We appreciate all of the support from fans, family, sailors, and many others who have helped our team progress throughout this enjoyable season.

Posted

in

by

Tags: