Maine Maritime Academy sailing competed at the Erwin Schell Trophy for the New England Fall Coed Dignhy Championships hosted by MIT this past weekend.
Mariners Sailors Zachary York (Sewell, N.J.), Ella Beauregard (Southport Island, Maine), Luke Healy (Lakewood, Ohio), Tristan Walker (Virginia Beach, Va.), Nalu Ho (Lahaina, Hawaii), & Courtney King (Appleton, Maine) travelled to Cambridge, MA to compete in New England Inter-Collegiate Sailing Associations (NEISA) Fall Coed Dinghy Championships.
Saturday began with a very wet & misty Easterly wind that was forecasted to blow 15-25, but never peaked much past 15 during the course of the morning. A very competitive starting line led to difficult first beats, especially since the track skewed Left. Not much success was had sailing from the boat, to course right, and leaders came out of the middle/top left very strong all morning. The breeze backed through the afternoon, ending the day in the 8-10 range—and King replaced Walker as a light-air crew to finish Saturday. York/Beauregard Posted high finishes of 13th in a national championship-level field.
On Sunday the breeze was 180' from where it ended on Saturday, presenting a new and difficult challenge. The WNW breeze was typically shifty, and puffy, ranging from 6-18 in the morning. Walker replaced King for the higher wind in the morning sets. The track was again skewed, this time to the right, and there was not much success coming out of the course left side. Leaders for the day were able to get off the line from the boat-end and connect to the first different pressure on course right. King replaced Walker as the breeze backed again, and Ho briefly replaced Healy for races 15 & 16. York/Bearuregard continued to improve, and posted high finishes of eighth and 12th.
