Big success

Storm Trysail Club attracts over 200 college sailors to yachting regatta

The Storm Trysail Club (STC) ran one of the largest-ever collegiate regattas when 200 sailors on 28 teams raced big boats at Larchmont Yacht Club over the weekend of October 9-10. Besides being fun for everyone involved, the regatta served as an introduction to big-boat racing for collegiate dinghy sailors. For the boat owners, who lend their "pride and joy" as well as their time and experience onboard as coaches and safety officers, the regatta is a chance to give something back to the sport and see kids light up with the excitement of doing something for the first time.

STC volunteers worked hard to recruit three level-rated divisions to ensure the close, competitive racing dinghy sailors are used to. Since this regatta is not sanctioned by the Intercollegiate Sailing Association and does not count toward a team’s ranking, STC had to pull off a top event to draw sailors away from the regattas that count.

"We attracted several new schools because we were so successful at putting together a great fleet of boats; in fact, we nearly tripled in size over last year’s event, which had 11 boats sailing in one PHRF division," said regatta chairman Adam Loory. "For years we have been trying to attract schools with busy schedules like Tufts, and this year we did."

According to Tufts coach Ken Legler, "The event went great for us. It was one-design, which is pretty cool among boats that size. I need to get next year's dates so I can get it on the schedule. I’m glad they twisted our arm."

Schools came from all over to participate. From the Midwest came Northwestern, University of Michigan and Western Michigan. From the mid-Atlantic states came Duke, Georgetown, St. Mary’s, Princeton and the U.S. Naval Academy. Five schools in the New York City area participated (Columbia, Fordham, Webb Institute, N.Y. Maritime and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy). Queens University from Ontario, Canada, also sent a team.

Class 1 was made up of five J/120s and three J/109s; Class 2 had five Express 37s and four J/35s; while Class 3 had 11 J/105s. The three class winners were Navy, sailing the J/109 Patriot in Class 1, Georgetown, defending their title from last year in Class 2 on the Express 37 Lora Ann, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, sailing the J/105 Andiamo to win Class 3.

After the regatta, raves came in quickly. Coach Chuck Fontaine from Mass Maritime offered high praise, saying, "STC and Larchmont Yacht Club did an awesome job, pulling off a great triumph in collegiate sailing. Only in a place as big and grand as New York could something as entertaining and fun as this happen. That is, with the exception of a Red Sox win! We’ll definitely be back in 2005."

Even teams that finished toward the bottom of the standings had a good time. Coach Alan Penny of Johnson and Wales, whose team finished eighth, told boat owner Bob Behringer, "Thank you for your boat, time and knowledge. This was a great experience for all of us and we hope to be back next year with a bit more experience. The entire ride home was chatter about doing this more often, crewing on big boats over the summer, what a great experience, and on and on. I was amazed that they didn’t sleep, just running on the excitement of the weekend. You are a great educator."

STC is known for its leading-edge race committees, and STC’s Charles "Butch" Ulmer ran six good races in two days. The first five windward-leeward races were sailed in 8-10 knots of breeze. And when the wind died and became fluky during the second race on Sunday, Ulmer didn’t hesitate to abandon the race. Once the new breeze filled in, a new race was sailed in 14-18 knots.

Getting owners to lend their boats to sailors who don’t have a lot of experience with big boats is hard the first time. But this regatta is not a typical borrowed-boat event. Owners are part of the teams and get to see the enthusiasm of the collegiate sailors. STC encourages the owners to coach boat handling, sail trim and boat speed but asks the owners not to help with tactics. As with all teachers, different owners have different coaching styles. Tim Longo, on the J/109 Storm, allowed his crew to learn from its mistakes. At one point, the bowman insisted the spinnaker gear was clear, even though Longo knew it was not. Knowing that a twisted spinnaker wouldn’t put anyone’s safety at risk, Longo remained quiet. The twisted chute cost Storm a place in the race, which put her into a three-way tie for second in the regatta. Storm lost all the tie-breakers and came out fourth. Still, Longo thinks the bowman is more apt to have learned his lesson this way.

One of the ways owners are induced to sail is by offering to recruit schools of which they are alumnis, their children are attending, or their children are considering attending. Several boat owners got to sail with their sons and daughters. STC Vice Commodore Rich du Moulin was amazed at how well his son Ed and his Georgetown teammates sailed his Express 37. "These guys can see things on the water that I don’t even see," said du Moulin.

Storm Trysail Club’s Commodore Dick Neville said, "This is definitely one of the best things the Storm Trysail Club does for our sport. Between the Junior Safety at Sea Seminars, Intercollegiate Regatta, major regattas we run, and now our efforts to introduce the IRC handicap rule, the Club is really moving in a great direction."
With sponsorship from Prestige Motors in New Jersey, STC was able to feed the ravenous college students after racing on both days. A raffle was held just before the awards ceremony, with participants winning clothing from UK Sailmakers, Douglas Gill, Team One and the Storm Trysail Club.

Next year's regatta will be sailed Oct. 8-9, 2005, once again at Larchmont Yacht Club.

	Division 1		Pts.
1	US Naval Academy	J/109 Patriot	8
2	Coast Guard	J/120 Avra	21
3	Webb	J/109 Relentless	21
4	Mass. Maritime Academy	J/109 Storm	21
5	Fordham	J/120 Moonlighter	22
6	Williams	J/120 Peregrine	39
7	Duke	J/120 Bacchinal	40
8	Cornell	J/120 Sweet Lorraine	46
	Division 2
1	Georgetown	Express 37 Lora Ann	7
2	Michigan	Express 37 Soulmates	14
3	US Merchant Marine Academy	Express 37 Afterglow	24
4	Western Michigan	Express 37 Songlines	25
5	St. Mary's	J/35 Paladin	29
6	NY Maritime	J/35 Privateer	32
7	Coast Guard	J/35 Steamboat	47
8	Johnson & Wales	Express 37 Draco	49
9	Coast Guard	J/35 Diva	53
	Division 3	All J/105s
1	US Merchant Marine Academy	Andiamo	15
2	Georgetown	Kincsem	25
3	Coast Guard	Conundrum	31
4	NY Maritime	Resistance	32
5	Tufts	Hotspur	32
6	Bowdoin	Morning Glory	36
7	Northwestern	Mack Daddy	42
8	Columbia	Jato	42
9	Wheaton	Eclipse	45
10	Queens University	Peregrina	48
11	Princeton	Alacrity	63