Last weekend, seven Colonial sailors competed at the Greater New York Dinghy Regatta, co-hosted by Fordham and Columbia Universities. One of the oldest regattas in college sailing, the GNYDR actually predates the MAISA conference itself. This year, major changes were in store, as both host schools recently purchased new and enlarged fleets of 420s. This effectively doubled the size of the regatta from 10 to 20 schools, and turned it into an intersectional event, where NEISA and MAISA schools go head to head.

    Both Saturday and Sunday were somewhat hazy Spring days, but were missing one key ingredient: Wind! This felt strange to the GW sailors in attendance, who seemingly have been hiking out in strong breezes at almost every regatta and practice all Spring long. Our squad split into two groups: Seniors Meredith Carroll and Will Ricketson would alternate skippering duties in A-division, with Kaitlin Denney ’14 crewing for both. In B-Division, the skippers would be Mike Shea ’11 and Hussain Patel ’13, with Lynnie Strother ’14 and Erin McCormack ’14 crewing. This allowed the maximum number of GW sailors to compete, and ensured we are all tuned up for our crucial late season regattas and practices in the coming weeks. 

The highlights in A-Division were a 2nd place finish for GW in race 3A, and in B-Division, a 7th place finish in race 8B. 

We were fortunate to receive an unprecedented amount of support during this event from parents, friends and alumni. On Sunday, the sailing team, in collaboration with the GW Alumni Office, hosted a brunch in the main dining room of the Morris Yacht and Beach Club, the regatta venue. It drew over 30 regional supporters of our team, and hopefully we succeeded in spreading the word even further about our organization and it’s impressive accomplishments. 

Special thanks go out to the Carroll family for hosting us all weekend. For the past four years, there have been few families who have been as enthusiastic and generous in their support of our team. In addition to housing us, they kept us well fed all weekend, and even collected supplies to support our alumni event. We owe them a big debt of gratitude!

Thanks to everyone who followed along on Twitter. Also, special congratulations go our to our other regatta team, who won GW’s first-ever team race regatta down in New Jersey!

Keep following our progress as we race in two major championships during the next two weeks!

-Will Ricketson ’11


Full scores: 
http://scores.collegesailing.info/s11/greater-new-york-dinghy/