WEEK 3 - September 27-28, 2008

It was another busy weekend for USF sailors!

The SAISA (South Atlantic) Conference Women’s Single-handed Championship event was hosted at USF – St. Petersburg on Saturday, September 27. Making the most of the home water advantage, senior Kim Witkowski won the event. Ten sailors competed in the very light winds, leaving the dock at 10 am and returning from the final race at 7 pm – a very long day for all. Other USF sailors competing were junior Hillary Noble (7th) and sophomore Darby Smith (9th).

Kim advances to the ICSA Single-handed National Championship which will be hosted by Cornell University October 24-26, 2008, along with the second and third place finishers, both from the College of Charleston.

On Sunday, the SAISA Conference Women’s Dinghy Championships were hosted by cross-town rivals Eckerd College. The top three teams from this event advance to the Atlantic Coast Championships November 15-16. Kim again sailed well, teamed with sophomores Christine Saylor and Kirsten Hunt. They finished 2nd in B division, just one point out of first. In A division, Rachael Silverstein sailed with sophomores Stephanie Reynolds and Diana Cabili, and finished 4th. Combining the scores, USF finished 3rd overall, narrowly beating University of Florida for the final qualifying spot. USF sailors will be joining winner College of Charleston and runner-up Eckerd at the ACC regatta hosted by Georgetown.

Also on Saturday, the SAISA South Points series continued. The third event was hosted by Rolllins at Winter Haven, FL, and sailed on Lake Virginia. USF sailors dominated this event, winning both A division (Sean Ross and Christine Saylor) and B division (Britton Steele and Margaret Spears). The JV team (Adam DePrimo and Tristen Vail in A, Jon Ellington and Julia Francoeur in B) finished just below mid-fleet.

Finally, the SAISA Men's Singlehanded Championships were hosted by College of Charleston. USF sailors Zack Marks and Mitch Hall ended up 3rd and 5th, respectively, but unfortunately only the two sailors qualified for Nationals. Matt Gardiner finished 11th and Justin Ahearn 13th in the fourteen boat fleet. A HUGE thank you to Jim Stull for transporting the sailors to Charleston and helping with the logistics!

WEEK 2 - September 20-21, 2008

USF sailing team members traveled a combined 22,000 miles this weekend, competing at four different regattas!

Best finish was at the College of Charleston Open Regatta, which was also our SAISA SP-2 event.
Freshmen Britton Steele and Sean Ross sailed with sophomores Darby Smith and Christine Saylor to finished tied for second, just losing the tie-breaker. Special thanks to Waterfront Director Zac Oppenheim for playing coach and transportation director for the weekend!

Next best finish was 11th overall at the prestigious Nevins Regatta at the US Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point, NY, where 20 of the top schools in the country competed. Mitch Hall sailed with Stephanie Reynolds to 8th in A division, Tim King sailed with Simon Sanders to 13th in B division, and Zack Marks was 13th in C division. Winds were so light and variable that no racing was even possible on Sunday.

Up at Dartmouth, the Women’s team finished 15th out of 18 teams. Kristen Britt and Kirsten Hunt (sailing in her first Intersectional regatta) were 15th in A division, while Rachael Silverstein and Ash Lanes were 12th in B division. Again, winds were predominantly light and shifty on the lake, and the USF sailors struggled in the fickle breeze, to say nothing of the 37 degree overnight low temperatures!

Finally, up at MIT in Boston, MA, guest coach Lynne Jewell Shore assisted the USF sailors at a three-division, eighteen team regatta. Chris Keimig and Julia Francoeur (sailing in her first Intersectional regatta) were 17th in A division, Matt Gardiner and Margaret Spears (also sailing in her first Intersectional regatta) were 17th in B division, and Justin Aheran and Hillary Noble (also sailing in her first Intersectional regatta) were 14th in C division. The winds on the Charles River were shifty, and presented a new challenge to the Tampa Bay sailors.

Nevins Results

1. BOSTON COLLEGE 45 40 41 126
2. ST. MARY'S 44 94 50 188
3. ROGER WILLIAMS 56 88 48 192
4. TUFTS 76 69 62 207
5. BROWN 90 87 38 215
6. GEORGETOWN 92 59 65 216
7. NAVY 52 90 88 230
8. HOBART&WILLIAM SMITH 93 101 46 240
9. CHARLESTON 110 71 64 245
10. NEW YORK MARITIME 75 97 109 281
11. SOUTH FLORIDA 87 98 99 284
12. WASHINGTON COLLEGE 44 73 168 285
13. HARVARD 117 76 97 290
14. OLD DOMINION 93 104 97 294
15. VERMONT 102 79 127 308
16. KINGS POINT 133 100 88 321
17. ECKERD 105 121 136 362
18. CORNELL 156 133 155 444
19. FORDHAM 162 144 154 460
20. MICHIGAN 158 162 161 481

Mrs. Hurst Results

1. Charleston 36 24 60
2. Harvard 38 23 61
3. Yale 41 49 90
4. Brown 45 48 93
5. Georgetown 64 37 101
6. Rhode Island 52 53 105
7. Hobart/William Smith 55 57 112
8. Connecticut College 54 58 112
9. Coast Guard Academy 56 67 123
10. Dartmouth 55 80 135
11. Roger Williams 56 81 137
12. Bowdoin 73 70 143
13. Boston University 80 80 160
14. Tufts 94 69 163
15. South Florida 89 75 164
16. MIT 88 89 177
17. Maine Maritime 97 125 222
18. New Hampshire 125 112 237

Hatch Brown Results

1. Boston College 37 62 56 155
2. Yale University 86 102 69 257
3. Boston University 98 80 88 266
4. US Naval Academy 69 71 156 296
5. St Mary's College MD 77 123 98 298
6. Roger Williams Univ 123 121 60 304
7. Conn College 137 67 106 310
8. Harvard University 131 80 103 314
9. MIT 116 76 138 330
10. Univ of Rhode Island 139 96 105 340
11. US Coast Guard Acad 105 148 108 361
12. Brown University 93 154 124 371
13. Tufts University 116 147 110 373
14. Salve Regina Univ 144 116 130 390
15. Dartmouth College 135 131 147 413
16. Bowdoin College 123 169 161 453
17. Univ of Vermont 164 145 151 460

WEEK 1 - September 13-14, 2008

Our first week of competions was very successful, both on and off the water.

First, Program Sales at the Kansas football game earned us over $800. Top sellers were:
1. Kirsten Hunt 105
2. Justin Ahearn 55
3. Zack Marks 55
4. Kim Witkowski 45

and those selling all 40:

Kathleen Carter
Jon Ellington
Matt Gardiner
Chris Keimig
Margaret Spears
Ash Landes

No report from flyer distributions, but thanks to Zachary Hall and Daniel McDonald for heading up that task, earning another $500.

On the water, we hosted the first SAISA South Points event of the season. Thanks to Zack Marks, Jon Ellington, Adam DePrimo, and Chris Keimig who worked the event, and to ALL the USF team members who sailed. Everyone helped, making us look really good, despite the dying breeze. Many teams commented on what a great job everyone did.

In A division, freshman Britton Steele sailed with sophomore Darby Smith to 1st place, while in B division, freshman Sean Ross sailed with sophomore Christine Sayler for a convincing victory, giving our JV team the overall win in the eighteen boat fleet.

Rachael Silverstein and Ash Landes sailed to 4th place in A division, while Kim Witkowski and Kirsten Hunt were 6th in B division, giving them 4th overall in the regatta. Danielle DeLaire crewed for New College, finishing 7th overall.

Justin Ahearn and Hillary Noble were 8th in A division, and Matt Gardiner and Margaret Spears were 2nd in B division, giving the varsity team 6th overall. 

  1. USF JV                8    5   13
  2. Eckerd                 15   17   32
  3. Florida                14   20   34
  4. USF Women            16   20   36
  5. Miami                  19   20   39
  6. USF                    34   13   47
  7. New College            29   42   71
  8. Georgia Tech           37   40   77
  9. FAU                    45   36   81
10. Rollins                62   25   87
11. FAU JV               50   38   88
12. Florida JV           42   48   90
13. F.I.T.                 27   65   92
14. Miami JV             46   46   92
15. FSU                    43   52   95
16. Florida Gulf Coast     57   62  119
17. Jacksonville           69   64  133
18. FSU JV               71   71  142

Meanwhile, at the first Intersectional of the year, USF sailors finished 9th at the Harry Anderson Regatta at Yale University.
Mitch Hall and Steph Reynolds finished 11th in A division, and Tim King and Simon Sanders finished 9th in B division. Conditions were light and shifty, and only 5 races were sailed in each division all weekend.

A B TOT 1. ROGER WILLIAMS 24 31 55 2. BOSTON COLLEGE 23 35 58 3. YALE 34 34 68 4. TUFTS 49 27 76 5. BROWN 32 48 80 6. CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 34 53 87 7. ECKERD 33 57 90 8. VERMONT 57 35 92 9. SOUTH FLORIDA 51 42 93 10. HARVARD 56 38 94 11. MIT 42 54 96 12. GEORGETOWN 76 21 97 13. ST. MARY'S 37 62 99 14. STANFORD 79 27 106 15. BOSTON UNIVERSITY 63 66 129 16. UPENN 62 78 140 17. HOBART/WmSMITH 51 91 142 18. BOWDOIN 75 84 159 19. DARTMOUTH 86 76 162 20. SALVE REGINA 87 91 178
Next week will be busy, with teams traveling to Dartmouth, King's Point, NY, Charleston, SC, and Boston.

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