SAILING'S BEST PERFORMANCE EVER AT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

[joesunfish]

The MAISA COED Fall Dinghy Championship was hosted by St. Mary's College of Maryland in their new, multi-million dollar Sailing House and Facility on the shore of the St. Mary's River. The competition brought together the top 18 among 45 schools in the conference to qualify for this event at preliminary regattas a few weeks ago. St. Mary's, the 2009 National Champions, recently acquired a fleet of 18 new FJs to complement its fleet of 18 420s so all 36 boats were on the water at the same time as the competitions in A & B Divisions were held simultaneously.

The top eight schools in this event qualify for the Atlantic Coast Dinghy Championship at Harvard in two weeks and the next seven teams advance to the Atlantic Coast Tournament. Because our Middle Atlantic conference and the New England conference are the most competitive in the country, and the South Atlantic conference is very good, as well, the former event is undoubtedly the second most competitive in College Sailing after the ICSA National Championship Tournament next May.

Fordham was represented in A Division by Carl Shorett '10 & Ryann Hall '11 with Phil Krug '11 standing by as heavy-air crew. In B Division, Graham Gardner '11 & Sarah McKay '12 alternated with Alex Sachs '12 & Amanda Tooker '11.

Despite an epic wind prediction for Saturday, the first three races in both divisions were completed in less than six knots of breeze from the south. After lunch, 12 more races were sailed in over 10 knots, also from the south. On Sunday, rain and northeasterly breezes  were very shifty but allowed the completion of all 36 races prior to the 4:00 PM deadline.

Our team sailed so well on Saturday, that with 18 races or  half the regatta over that evening, Fordham was in eighth place with leads of 17 and 30 points over Kings Point and the University of Virginia respectively. Unfortunately, Sunday brought an inconsistent performance and after 24 races, we were tied with KP at 216 points and Virginia was trailing by only six. We snapped back, however, as Carl & Ryann tallied a 2 & 3 while Alex & Amanda scored a 7-6 in the 13th & 14th races in their divisions. After 31 races, we had a slim seven-point margin over KP 266-273 and had put Virginia behind us 266 to 295. With only five races to go, the Kings Point B boat put together a 2-4-5 series while their A boat was scoring a 7 and a 10. Fordham was unable to respond and finished in ninth place, 26 points behind the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Since we had never finished higher than 10th place at a conference championship, to be in eighth place and qualify for the Atlantic Coast Championship would have been an enormous accomplishment but we obviously have to work harder to get the job done. Having said that, I was enormously proud of our Ram sailors because:
1. They placed ninth at a conference championship for the first time in the history of our program
2. Also, for the first time ever, we were the highest placing club team at this event, and
3. By placing ninth, Fordham receives an automatic bid for the America Trophy Regatta, next spring's MAISA Championship

RESULTS (* = varsity team)

1. St. Mary's - 117 points *
2. Georgetown - 146 *
3. Navy - 181 *
4. Hobart/William Smith - 189 *
5. Old Dominion - 204 *
6. Washington College - 208*
7. New York Maritime - 264 *
8. Kings Point - 301 *
9. Fordham - 327
10. Virginia - 347
11. U/Pennsylvania - 396
12. Cornell - 409
13. Princeton -447
14. American - 464
15. George Washington - 495
16. Ocean County - 540
17. Colgate - 551
18. Loyola (MD) - 572

In other action, a new regatta was introduced this year. the Top 9 Regatta, which pits the second and third string teams of the top nine ranked schools, against one another. Each school was invited to send two teams and while Fordham was not a top nine team, it received an invitation to participate with one team. This event was held at Navy in conditions similar to those at St. Mary's and Fordham was represented by Joe Turchiano '11 & Samantha Zimmer '12 in A Division and John O'Riordan '12 and Hallie Petersen '12 with Emma Pfohman '13 subbing and sailing the final two races. Thirty-four races were scheduled and while the competition was fierce, which underscored the depth of the varsity teams, our sailors also sailed well with Joe & Sam scoring as high as a 3-4-5  and John & Hallie  scoring a 7-8-9 in three races.

RESULTS

1. Hobart  William Smith I - 139*
2. Navy I - 204 *
3. Navy II - 219 *
4. St. Mary's I - 221*
5. Old Dominion I - 228 *
6. Georgetown I - 228 *
7.  Navy III - 245 *
8. Georgetown II- 246 *
9. Old Dominion II - 260 *
10. St. Mary's II - 286 *
11. Hobart/Wm Smith II - 309 *
12. Kings Point - 358 *
13. Fordham - 409
14. New York Maritime I - 413 *
15. U/Pennsylvania - 473
16. Washington College - 474 *
17. New York Maritime - 491*

Next weekend, Fordham will participate in the MAISA Women's Championship and the MAISA Club Teams'  Championship.