The GW Women’s Sailing Team achieved a great milestone this weekend as they competed in the ICSA Atlantic Coast Women’s Championship in St. Petersburg, Florida. Never before in school history had GW made it to this nationally prominent event, and our presence stood as further evidence of our steady ascent in the world of intercollegiate sailing. Each year, ACC’s features the best teams from the three east coast conferences, NEISA (New England), MAISA (Mid Atlantic), and SAISA (South Atlantic). Finishing seventeenth overall and second out of only three club teams who earned a berth, GW gained a great deal of experience to build on for a run at nationals this Spring. Co-hosted this year by Eckerd College and USF, the regatta was held in warm and sparking gulf coast weather, and the Colonials traded in their drysuits for fresh bottles of sunblock. Our team was a blend of experienced veterans and fresh talent. Manning A-Division were seniors Meredith Carroll and Anne Laterra, with Skye Kussman ’13 in reserve. B- Division consisted of freshmen Julia Gardner, Kaitlin Denney and Sonya Ropek. Fulfilling the unfamiliar role of coach, rather than sailor, was senior Will Ricketson, who somehow finagled his way down to Florida for a weekend of cheering on his teammates. There are roughly 115 college sailing teams on the east coast, and only a minority of these teams can field a competitive all-women’s team. Even rarer are club teams that can do so, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of varsity teams at ACC’s (15 of 18 schools). GW, by qualifying for this event, can now count itself as a member of an elite group. Our competition was certainly formidable. One example of this was Yale’s Claire Dennis, who a week before had won the ICSA National Singlehanded Championship. Racing in A-Division, Dennis finished in 7th place, a testament to the depth of the field. Seniors Meredith Carroll and Anne Laterra, longtime leaders of both our co-ed and women’s teams, drew the tough assignment of competing in a stacked A-Division featuring several 2009 All-Americans. These two never seem to blink in the face of adversity, and this weekend was no exception. Staring down varsity teams intent on pushing around the upstart Colonials, Meredith and Anne calmly got down to business and earned top-six finishes in an amazing 40% of their races. The assembled varsity coaches, not used to such a reshuffling of the status quo, were quick to take notice during one four-race stretch when GW finished 2,2,3,3. In doing so, Meredith and Anne struck a blow not only for our school, but seemingly for underdog club teams everywhere. It was inspiring to watch, and the direct result of three and a half years of hard effort by these two women. GW’s effort in B-Division was a true tale of courage starring two freshmen. Kaitlin Denney had spent most of the Fall as Will’s crew on the co-ed team, racing in our most important qualifiers and the War Memorial MAISA Championship. However, while she already has a racing resume that most college freshmen would envy, it only constituted two months of experience in this brand of short-course, high-intensity sailing. Julia Gardner, her skipper, was sailing in just the second college regatta of her life, following a great performance at MAISA Club Champs the week before. These two sailors stood up to the toughest teams on the east coast, and did so at the very beginning of their college sailing careers. It took a tremendous amount of guts, and ACC’s will no doubt prove to be a valuable experience for both of them going forward. At such an important regatta, it is an absolute necessity to bring heavy-air specialists along in case the breeze builds. Personnel versatility can be a difference-maker in dinghy sailing, and so having Sonya and Skye along gave us a great deal of confidence. The racing all weekend took place in sunny, hot, and very light conditions. While they, along with dozens of other alternate crews, were forced to sit on the sidelines all weekend, our whole team is grateful that they came down to Florida with us. Sonya and Skye were a huge part of our qualifying effort at ODU, when the breeze was in the 15-20 knot category all weekend. Thus, while they did not sail at ACC’s, we never would have been there in the first place if it wasn't for their energy, sacrifice, and skill. There is no question that getting to ACC’s was a fantastic accomplishment for our young team, but it is only the beginning of what The GW Sailing Team can achieve if we keep trying. This Spring, we will try to get back in to the America Trophy Regatta (MAISA Champs & Nationals Qualifier) on the co-ed team, and Women’s Semifinals and Nationals on the women’s team. There is a lot of exciting racing left to be done, and as always, we will keep charging hard. Congratulations once again to our women’s team, who have already written a new chapter in the history of GW sports. -Will Ricketson ’11 Full Results: http://regatta.mit.edu/f10/women-accs/ Add Comment GW Sailing saw a glimpse of its future this past weekend at the 2010 MAISA Club Championship, as two freshmen skippers, and a freshman crew, rose to the challenge and competed in MAISA’s hardest club event of the season. MAISA Club Champs is noteworthy in the world of college sailing for one particularly infamous reason: The dreaded Tech Dinghy. These awkward and antiquated craft, designed decades ago by well-meaning students at MIT, have provided a unique challenge to visitors of Tom’s River Yacht Club for many years. They are characterized by their tremendous weight, lack of sail area, and the absence of hiking straps or a jib. Ocean County College, the regatta hosts (Who practice out of TRYC) have a brand new fleet of 420’s, but in the interest of maximizing everyone’s time on the water, both A and B Divisions were out on the water simultaneously, one in 420s, the other in Techs. Nick Koeniger ’14 and Caitlin Keliher ’14 were GW’s A-Division team for this event, and thus had the unenviable task of divining the Tech Dinghy’s mysteries on Saturday. In a very light breeze and considerable current, they did an admirable job, highlighted by a 6th place finish in race 4A. It bears mentioning that Nick was wearing his trademark camouflage hat, until it was tragically lost during heated racing on Sunday. (Memorial bouquets can be delivered to Nick’s room in Thurston Hall) In B-Division, Julia Gardner ’14 and Brielle Seitelman ’13, sailing in 420s, were in much more familiar territory. Julia, who happened to call her brother on Saturday morning, discovered to everyone’s amusement that not only was he in the area, but she would be sailing against him all weekend (He was Fordham’s B-Division skipper). This became even more entertaining in race 4B, when Julia finished in an impressive second place... right behind her brother Graham. On Sunday, the light breezes and calmness gave way to strong winds, whitecaps, and general Tech Dinghy mayhem. A-Division switched into the 420s, and it was B-Division’s turn to try their hand in the old boats. Substitute coach/regatta dad Will Ricketson ’11, along for the weekend in a supporting role, noticed before launching on Sunday that the GW tech dinghy’s emergency flotation tanks were full of water, and was able to bail them out. This was to prove fortuitous later on. Replacing Brielle as Julia’s crew was veteran heavy-air specialist Mike Shea ’11. In the first race of the day, Julia and Mike attempted a particularly athletic and aggressive tack, only to realize too late that boats built in the 1970s were not exactly designed for such action. As Brielle and Will watched in horror from on shore, the GW Tech dinghy dipped its port side gunnel below the waterline... and quickly vanished up to its mast. In a matter of seconds, the boat was almost completely sunk, held afloat only by its two small emergency tanks. Julia and Mike were quickly able to recover the boat (With the help of a large bucket) and bounced back nicely in the standings. Colgate suffered a similar fate during the same race, and was last seen drifting helplessly deeper into Barnegat bay. Younger sibling Julia exacted revenge on brother Graham in race 15A on Sunday, which was won by GW while Fordham took 5th. Overall, Julia, Brielle and Mike were remarkably consistent all weekend, finishing in the top ten in 12 out of 18 races. Overall, it was a highly successful and rewarding weekend for the Colonials, who finished 12th out of 18 teams. Valuable experience was gained against tough competition, and great memories were made. the relative youth of our team, combined with our competitiveness, certainly bodes well for GW Sailing’s future prospects. -Will Ricketson ’11 Our Team for MAISA Club Champs: A-Division: - Nick Koeniger ’14 - Caitlin Keliher ’14 B-Division - Julia Garner ’14 - Briell Seitelman ’13 - Mike Shea ’11 Cheering Section: -Will Ricketson ’11 Full results: http://regatta.mit.edu/f10/maisa-club-s/ This past weekend, the George Washington’s Women’s Sailing Team travelled to Old Dominion University to compete in the 2010 MAISA Women’s Fall Championship. Women’s regattas are a new focus for the GW sailing team, yet a longtime staple of college sailing. The ICSA has worked hard to promote this aspect of the sport through regional and national qualifier and championship events. The MAISA Women’s Championship, held this year at ODU, provided a chance for the top eight teams to advance to the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championships at Eckerd College. This tremendous opportunity was on the mind of GW sailors all weekend long. Saturday started off with temperatures in the low 50s, and occasional sun. The Elizabeth River provided competitors with high swells and a NW-N breeze at 10-18 knots. ODU sailors graciously helped competitors launch the fleet of FJs in the high tide. The strong breeze and swells called for our two heavy-air specialists to join their skippers. Starting off the day, Co-Captain Meredith Carroll ’11 and her crew, Co-Captain Skye Kussmann ’13, set out for the first start in A-Division. Meredith and Skye had three strong sets on Saturday, never finishing below 8th place, setting up the team to score one of the top eight spots. A-Division stayed consistently in the top eight by sailing upwind on the left side of the course in the strong breeze and by using the tide to their advantage. The new experience of heavy swells taught the team much about the importance of “ooching”, (using your body weight to increase acceleration down the waves) particularly in the downwind legs. The highlight came in race 6A, when Meredith and Skye scored a 3rd place finish. As the wind slowed down towards the end of the day, Anne Laterra ’11, the longtime crew for Meredith, stepped in. Meredith and Anne consistently scored above 8th place, further securing our position in the top eight. By the end of the day, GW’s A-Division team was in a solid 7th place finish. In B-Division, Katie Hilton ’12 and Sonya Ropek ’14 held their own against the competitive fleet. Katie and Sonya used their experience to make the best connections between the puffs, allowing them to move up the course with speed. Their downwind legs proved to be their most effective, consistently picking off one or two boats with fabulous boat handling. Katie and Sonya’s highlight came in race 4B, when they captured first place! Other highlights include a 3rd place finish in race 6B and a 5th place finish in race 7B. By the end of the day Katie and Sonya had secured an overall 6th place position in B-Division. Sunday came with stronger wind and waves to finish out the remainder of the 11 race rotation. The breeze came from the N-NW at 13-22 knots. The strong wind meant another day of sailing for Skye and Sonya, and harsh conditions for competitors all around. A-Division started the day off strong with a 5th place finish. While the tough conditions brought some challenges, B-Division managed to keep enough of the Elizabeth River out of their boat to sail fast into a final 8th place overall standing. Our fate to travel to Fall 2010 Women’s Atlantic Coast Championships had been sealed! This is a big moment for our team, as never before in school history have we advanced this far on the women’s circuit. A huge thank you to the tireless supporters of the GW Sailing Program, without whom we really would not have made it as far as this! Kaitlin Denney ’14 provided racing advice, encouragement, and an extremely positive attitude all weekend. A special thank you to Betsy Price for providing the team with a wonderful Saturday night meal and coming out to see the GW Team at its finest! Also, the team owes a deal of great appreciation to Jack Bell for his endless hospitality and support of the GW sailing team. -Captain Skye Kussman ’13 Our Team for The MAISA Women’s Championship: A-Division: -Meredith Carroll ’11 -Anne Laterra ’11 -Skye Kussman ’13 A-Division: -Katie Hilton ’12 -Sonya Ropek ’14 -Kaitlin Denney ’14 Full Results: http://regatta.mit.edu/f10/maisa-women-odu/ The Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Conference (MAISA) rankings are out, ahead of this year’s scheduling process. GW is currently ranked 14th out of 47 schools, an impressive feat for our still-developing team. MAISA is the largest, and arguably the most competitive, (along with New England’s NEISA) conference in college sailing, and so we can reflect on this with some pride. MAISA Rankings Winter 2010:
After making the long but scenic journey from Washington, DC to Geneva, NY last Friday afternoon, the GW Sailing Team engaged in two days of hard (And cold) racing at the 2010 War Memorial Regatta. This event is the MAISA (Mid -Atlantic) Conference Championships and the pinnacle of the Fall racing season. Along with the Schell Trophy (New England Champs) and the Atlantic Coast Champs, the War Memorial is widely regarded as one of the three most competitive Fall events in the country. Each year, the 45 teams in MAISA strive to gain entry, and GW was proud to achieve this feat for the second year in a row. Saturday dawned clear with temperatures in the 40s, a somewhat startling sensation to GW sailors who only days before had been practicing in T-shirts on the Potomac River. The regatta was hosted by Hobart and William Smith Colleges, who together (The schools combine their athletic teams) boast one of the most powerful sailing programs in the country. The boat of choice on windy Seneca Lake is the 420, a different type of dinghy than our usual FJ’s. However, GW had worked hard over the previous two weeks to get some 420 practice in Georgetown’s boats. Being so far inland, Seneca Lake is prone to difficult and shifty conditions, as Will Ricketson ’11 and Kaitlin Denney ’14 quickly discovered during their first set in A-Division. In both races, which were held in a calm but variable early-morning breeze, Will opted for risky but potentially rewarding upwind strategies, which saw GW travel far out to the right side of the course. This proved to be unwise, as they returned to the dock having scored a demoralizing pair of 18’s in both races, and now faced an uphill battle to climb back up in the standings. However, after a quick talk with Georgetown’s ever-supportive coach, Mike Callahan, (Our coach, Jay Sterne, was unable to attend) they decided to shake off what had happened and averaged a respectable 11th place finish per race for the rest of the regatta. The highlight for Will and Kaitlin came in race 5A on Saturday. By this time, the treacherous breezes of earlier in the day had given way to an exhilarating 15 mph of wind, with large waves to match. Steering a path out to the middle-left side of the course in search of more breeze, GW rounded the first mark ahead of the fleet, followed closely by Hobart and Georgetown. GW was barely passed by both boats after a tough downwind battle, but after rounding the opposite gate mark as the two leaders, they were able to get back to the favored left side sooner, and reclaimed first place. This time, GW had built enough of a lead to fend off any further downwind attacks, and crossed the finish line in first, claiming GW’s first War Memorial “bullet”. In B-Division, senior Team Captain Meredith Carroll ’11 was joined by her longtime crew Anne Laterra ’11 and heavy-air specialists Ian Conners ’13 and Co-Captain Skye Kussman ’13. For Meredith and Anne, this would be their second consecutive trip to the War Memorial as a team, and their fourth year sailing together for GW, in what has proven to be our team’s longest-lasting and most successful combination. Their trademark has always been an amazing ability to come back from tough situations, and this was on full display in their first set. After a rough start in race 2B, Meredith and Anne bided their time, stayed in phase, and then made their move on the final leg of the race. Noticing a significant puff coming down the middle of the lake before anyone nearby, they quickly sailed out to the left side of the course after rounding the leeward gate mark. Upon finding the new breeze, they were able to sail on a lifted tack right over two thirds of the fleet into an impressive sixth place finish. Both days started out light, with the breeze building in the afternoon, and we were fortunate to have Ian and Skye along to switch in and out with Anne when the need arose. This versatility proved a be a big asset, and ensured that our B-Division boat was optimally prepared regardless of what conditions the lake might throw at the fleet. In the end, GW finished 15th overall out of 18 schools. While we thought that we could have done a bit better, we had to keep in mind that we were facing the best of the best, and that our very presence at such a high level regatta was reason enough to feel proud of what we had accomplished this Fall. Thirty other teams had tried in vain to represent their schools at the War Memorial, and GW proved to be one of the very few student-run teams who belonged on the big stage. We certainly proved that last year’s qualification was no fluke, and that GW will be a factor in the competitive world of intercollegiate sailing not only this year, but hopefully for many years to come. -Will Ricketson ’11 Full results: http://regatta.mit.edu/f10/war-memorial/ Our Team for the 2010 War Memorial: A-Division: Will Ricketson ’11 Kaitlin Denney ’14 B-Division: Meredith Carroll ’11 Anne Laterra ’11 Ian Conners ’13 Skye Kussman ’13 Race Report: King’s Point Dinghy Open 11/01/2010
GW travelled to New York City on the second-to-last weekend of October to participate in the US Merchant Marine Academy’s annual Fall regatta. Amazing hospitality was provided by the Carroll family, who not only gave us beds to sleep on, but fantastic home-cooked food for our whole team (“A Thanksgiving Dinner test-run”, as Mrs. Carroll described it) . The breeze proved to be elusive all weekend, rarely providing an opportunity for hiking out in the boats, and reading the shifts and the current proved to be the most important factors. In the end, GW placed 10th out of 17 teams, and gained some important racing experience before the following weekend’s championship regatta at Hobart, and the MAISA Women’s qualifier in two weeks time. Full Results: http://regatta.mit.edu/f10/kings-point-dinghy-open/ Our Team for the KP Dinghy Open: A-Division: Meredith Carroll ’11 Will Ricketson ’11 Ian Conners ’13 B-Division: Katie Hilton ’12 Sonya Ropek ’14 Mike Shea ’11 | GW SAILINGThe biggest and best club sports team at George Washington University. ArchivesApril 2012 Categories |
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