BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Sailing team was on the water for another interesting weekend having to deal with the weather. The team participated in five regattas, and was victorious in two of those races, the Norm Reid Team Race and the Navy Fall.
The Navy Fall race was hosted by Navy and consisted of 20 teams competing in four divisions. Twenty Races were held on Saturday and Sunday and the Hawks performed very well, coming home with the overall win. The “A” Division was run by Cy Thompson (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands) and Kelly Stannard (Salem, Conn.) who were able to get the overall win behind five wins and seven additional top-three finishes, for an overall score of 112 points. The “B” Division competitors finished in sixth place with 170 points and was run by Jonathan Enright (Bristol, R.I.) and Alyssa Seifert (Duxbury, Mass.). Enright and Seifert finished with 170 points overall and were consistent, finishing in the top-ten on 14 separate occasions. The “C” Division was a solo mission for Luke Lawrence (Palm City, Fla.), who was able to finish in fourth overall with 109 points. Lawrence did very well on his own as he only fell out of the top-ten on one occasion during the weekend. The Final racer for the Hawks in the “D” Division was the second overall win for the Hawks as Alec Anderson (Tortola, BVI) placed first with 77 points. The combined effort by the team provided the team with 468 points overall, enough to beat out Georgetown and Brown for the victory.
The fifth annual Norm Reid Race hosted by Boston College was the second victory on the weekend for RWU. The event was a round robin style competition, with a total of 30 races being held on Saturday and Sunday. Winds were gusty from 12-18 knots, getting as high as 20 knots at times. The Hawks put on an impressive show as they were able to go 9-1 with the three boats racing. The teams of Ryan McHorney (Southboro, Mass.) and Robert Devens (Niantic, Conn.); Joshua Saltmarsh (Wayland, Mass.) and Adrienne White (Duxbury, Mass.); and George Saunders (San Diego, Calif.) and Sophie Bellacosa (Winchester, Mass.) all put in strong efforts in getting the overall win for the team.
The next event on the weekend for the Hawks was the Lane Trophy Team Race at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. This was another Round Robin event for the team, with 21 races being held for all seven teams, followed by six races consisting of the top four teams. After all was said and done the team was tied with the hosts, Tufts, with a final result of 7-2 for both teams. Procedural rules gave the tiebreaker to Tufts, and put the Hawks in second place overall. The same squad of McHorney, Devens, Saltmarsh, White, Saunders and Bellacosa put in double duty for the weekend competing in this event as well.
Another source of competition for RWU was the Captain Hurst Bowl at Dartmouth College. The Hawks were able to perform solidly once again, finishing in fourth place. Frustrating conditions saw four races run in two divisions. Sean Bouchard (Bermuda) and Bianca Rom (Amityville, N.Y.) raced in the “A” Division and finished in eighth place overall. The two finished in ninth, fifteenth, seventh and fifth for an overall score of 36. The “B” Division was run by Bjarki Gunnarsson (River Vale, N.J.) and Chelsea Maguire (Duxbury, Mass.), who finished in a tie for second with 20 points. Consistent finishes of third, seventh, and two fifth place finishes got them their score and helped the Hawks finish in fourth place with 56 points, just one point behind third place Salve Regina.
The final event of the weekend for the sailing team was the Great Herring Pond Open hosted by Mass. Maritime. Eight races were held on Saturday, and on Sunday the races had to be cancelled due to high winds in excess of 40 knots. RWU finished with 148 points which was good for ninth out of 17 teams competing. Haley Powell (St. George, Bermuda) and Andrew Vachon (Scituate, Mass.) raced in the “A” Division and earned 59 points for the team which put them in eighth in the division. The “B” Division team consisted of Emerald Epke (Tiverton, R.I.) and Carleton Huntsberger (North Port, Maine) who were able to garner 89 points towards the overall score and finished in 12th in the division.
This coming weekend has the Hawks racing in four different regattas. The team will be in New London Conn. from Friday to Sunday for the ICSA Sloop Championship at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. The team will also be traveling to nearby Providence, R.I. for the Sherman Hoyt Trophy hosted by Brown in 420's on Saturday and Sunday. The third event on the weekend is in Cambridge, Mass. for the Oberg Trophy at MIT hosted by Northeastern in three divisions of FJ's and Tech's. The fourth and final race for the Hawks is the Central Series Six at Boston College in 420's in Boston, Mass. The ICSA Sloop Championship has a scheduled start time of 9:00 a.m. and the other three are slated to begin at 9:30 a.m.
