Weekend Regatta Report:
Week 5
South Points 5
Women's Navy Fall
Hobart and William Smith Intersectional
Match Racing Clinic
Dragon Boat Racing

USF Sailors were in travel mode this Columbus Day weekend (a big holiday event up north).

South Points 5: Recent USF grad and former team captain Rachael Silverstein accompanied more USF sailors to the SAISA SP-5 regatta hosted by the University of Miami. Tom Hamby and Evan Russell finished 6th in A division, while Megan Hostetter and Candice Stewart finished 4th in B division, giving USF 5th overall out of the 7 teams racing. While the results might have been a disappointment, the sailors were enthusiastic about how much they learned from the event.

Women's Navy Fall: The Women's team traveled to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, where 16 teams were competing. In A division, Abby Featherstone and Dominique Wright returned to their previous form, missing 4th place by just 1 point. In B division, Sydney Jones and Ali Yarbrough shared helming and crewing duties, finishing an unsatisfying 15th, but also scoring the only bullet for the Bulls. In C division, Colleen Hartman sailed in the single-handed Radials, with an very strong 7th place showing. Overall, the Women finished 10th, a scant 3 points (428 to 425 points) away from 9th. Amazingly, all 48 races were completed in one day, as conditions Saturday afternoon were perfect, little current, with winds in the teens. The "trapezoid short" course was debuted, and seemed quite successful in separating the three fleets, however the boat traffic heading to the famous Annapolis Boat Show weekend was a problem, as usual.

Hobart and William Smith Intersectional: Farther north, the coed team competed against 16 teams in the Hobart-William Smith Intersectional in Geneva, NY. Following the example set by the women's team, the USF sailors finished 10th overall in very close racing, only 7 points from 7th overall (204 to 211 points). In A division, Senior Bryan White teamed with freshman Reba Campbell to finish 14th, while in B division, Ben Mohney and AJ Degen finished 6th, just a point out of 5th, even with a disqualification in one race. The team was given the opportunity to realize the time sacrifice of competing on the traveling squad, arriving back to St. Petersburg at 3am Monday.

Match Racing Clinic: Finally, preparing for the SAISA Match Racing Championships, brothers Will and Chris Stocke, along with freshmen Fernando Monllor and Darcy Jensen, attended a North U Match Racing clinic hosted by the St. Peterburg Sailing Center.

Looking Ahead: A bit of a break next weekend, with only the coed team on the road, traveling to Navy, while the final SAISA SP regatta will be held at Eckerd.