BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Sailing team ran off one of its most successful weekends of the season, winning the Oberg Trophy and qualifying for the ICSA Coed Dinghy Semifinals in May.
The Hawks captured the Oberg Trophy Saturday afternoon, enjoying a 44-point margin of victory in the 18-team regatta. Bjarki Gunnarsson (River Vale, N.J.), Carleton Huntsberger (Northport, Maine), Michael Costello (Fairfield, Conn.), Sean Bouchard (Bermuda), and Tyler Wilson (Woodville, Mass.) rode off an impressive performance over the 18 races on the day. The squad of Bouchard and Costello won the A Division pulled off six wins and five runner-up finishes, never placing lower than tenth.
At the NEISA Coed Dinghy Championships hosted by Boston College and UMass-Boston, the Hawks were barely edged by BC by a 211-207 to take second place at the championships. RWU held a slim 197-199 lead entering the final race of the event before finishes of 4th and 10th in A and B Division in the final race. Conversely, BC ran off finishes of fifth and third to overtake the lead and the win. Matthew Duggan (Sandwich, Mass.), Maria Petrillo (Bristol, R.I.), and Kaytlin Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.) represented in the A Division with 93 points, good for second place on the strength of ten top-five finishes in the 16 races. In B Division, Hall, Cy Thompson (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands), Jonathan Enright (Bristol, R.I.), and Kelly Gorman (Marblehead, Mass.) took eighth with seven finishes in the top five. With the second place finish at the championships, RWU qualifies for the ICSA Coed Dinghy Semifinals later this spring.
In addition to the previous two regattas, the Hawks hosted the Southern Series on Saturday morning, pulling off finishes of fourth and ninth. Despite a lack of breeze for most of the day, the 13 teams were able to get three races off, including an impromptu kayak race with RWU coming in third. Huntsberger, Ryan McHorney (Southboro, Mass.), Tucker Blagden (Marblehead, Mass.), and Fritz Stunzi (Marblehead, Mass.) took the fourth-place finish in actual competition, while Thomas Abbott (Scarborough, Maine) and Christopher Disciullo (Medford, Mass.) came in tenth.
Also on the water for the Hawks on Saturday were Joshua Saltmarsh (Wayland, Mass.), Andrew Vachon (Scituate, Mass.), Alex Feldman (West Nyack, N.Y.), and Brendon Scanlon (Worcester, Mass.), who competed at the U.S. Coast Guard Keelboat Invitational, taking third place out of 12 teams and finishing just six points out of first.
RWU had an outside shot of winning the regatta, with Connecticut College, Tufts, and RWU holding down the 1-2-3 spots with scores of 29, 32, and 36 with one race to go. Yet on the final race, Tufts, Connecticut, and RWU finished 2-3-4 to maintain the standings.
In the fifth regatta of the weekend, the Hawks took 15th at the Women's Emily Wick/Sloop Shrew, hosted by U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Sarah Mease (Ocean Gate, N.J.) and Kelly Stannard (Salem, Mass.) took seventh in A Division for the Hawks, with Emerald Epke (Tiverton, R.I.) and Megan Carlson (New Providence, N.J.) wrapped up a 17th place finish in B Division.
Roger Williams is back on the water this weekend, highlighted by the Women's New England Championships hosted by the University of Vermont.
