North 2 Regatta
This past weekend, October 15-16th, the Columbia Team qualified for the WAR Memorial Regatta at the North #2 Regatta at SUNY Maritime. Billy Hines SEAS’12 and Marie Johnson BC’12 sailed in A-division and John Croll SEAS’12 and Austin Lo SEAS’12 sailed in B-division. In order to qualify for the WAR Memorial, we had to be one of the top two teams not already qualified from the North region (SUNY Maritime, Hobart William Smith, Fordham University, and Cornell University qualified at North #1). Breeze was up all day Saturday, building from 15 to 25 knots from the south-southwest.
Four A races and two B races were completed before a prolonged lunch break to make repairs and evaluate the ability of the fleet to keep sailing. Our B-boat was granted breakdown points after their rudder broke during a capsize in Race 2B. B went back out in the big breeze, a steady 25 knots at this point, and finished the day strong. We stayed in our heaviest pairings all day although Melissa Bermudez CC’12 and Michelle Edelstein BC’13 supported the team on land, ready to switch in if the breeze lightened. We finished the day in third place overall behind Navy and Kings Point. Navy is in the South region and had already qualified for the WAR at their qualifier a few weeks before.
Sunday greeted the team with more breeze and so the heavy pairings stayed in. The breeze was more from the South today and slightly lighter at 18-20 knots and so playing the shifts became even more important. B-division started out very strong with a 1 and 2 in races 5B and 6B. Easing in puffs continued to be important to keep the boat powered up. Both boats were fast off the line but struggled to keep making smart tactical decisions especially in regards to fleet management. It was important to play the favored side but because it was shifty, it was also just as important to take opportunities to consolidate and not get hosed if a huge adverse shift came through. Queens University closed the gap and were very strong competition for the Lions. Each race and even every point counted at the end. Columbia finished only 1 point ahead of Queens to secure our spot at the WAR.
In the next couple of weeks, we hope to continue to tighten up our tactics and strengthen our big air sailing so we can put up another strong fight at the WAR. WAR is the Mid-Atlantic district qualifier for the fall. WAR will be held October 29th and 30th in FJs and 420s at the Naval Academy. The top 8 teams at the WAR will proceed to the Atlantic Coast Championship and the next 7 will proceed to the Atlantic Coast Tournament. Results at the WAR determine our district ranking for the fall season.