Penn Competes in Atlantic Coast Championship

November 11-13, 2011

This past weekend the Penn Sailing Team traveled to Boston, MS to compete in the 2011 Atlantic Coast Championship.   The team joined Harvard and MIT on Friday for a breezy day of practice on the Charles River in the FJs that would be used in the Championship. On Saturday, the team arrived to chilly temperatures and strong winds.  With two full divisions sailing at once, Junior Mike Russom and Freshman Jack Swikart did their best to compete against the skilled field that included 16 of the top 20 U.S. Sailing ranked teams. 12 of the 18 races were completed with the last race finishing just before sunset.

On Sunday the breeze moderated and the final three sets were sailed.  Kelsi Schoenrock did a wonderful job crewing in the “B” Division and Ali Zablocki and Christina Johns swapped in and out of the “A” Division to match the varying wind conditions.  The team ended up 18^th overall with the Rodger Williams Hawks claiming top honors.

Thanks to 2-time ISAF Team Racing World Champion Pete Levesque and former A-Division skipper Halsey Richartz C’11 for their help throughout the event

Full Results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/atlantic-coast/

With the fall season now complete, the team will use the winter to prep for the coming 2011 spring season.  This coming Wednesday the team will move the Penn FJs off the docks at the Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia and into winter storage.  Thanks to everyone who supported the team this past fall… we will see everyone in the Spring!

Penn Sailing wins 2011 MAISA Club Championship

November 5-6, 2011

This past weekend at Fordham and Columbia’s home venue on City Island, NY, the Penn Sailing team won the 2011 Mid Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association Club Championship.  Junior Mike Russom and crews Ali Zablocki and Christina Johns were 2nd in the “A” division and Freshman Jack Swikart and crews Kelsi Schoenrock and Christina Johns won the “B” division. The combination of their two scores was good enough for a 4 point victory over the Virginia Wahoos.  Stevens Tech finished a close 3rd, 12 points back.  Team Captain Kelsi Schoenrock, and sailors Christina Johns and Ali Zablocki swapped in and out as crews during the two days, maximizing the teams effectiveness in varying wind conditions.

Thanks to former A division skipper Halsey Richartz  C ’11 who came out to coach the team.

Nine races were sailed in each division over two days and the regatta report can be found here:http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/maisa-club-championships/full-scores

Next weekend they will compete in the Atlantic Coast Championship against at least a dozen top 20 teams at MIT in Boston.  Go Quakers!

War Memorial

October 29-30, 2011

Full Results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/war-memorial/

Sherman Hoyt Trophy

October 22-23, 2011

The team traveled to Providence, RI this weekend to compete in the Sherman Hoyt Trophy hosted by Brown University.  8 races were completed Saturday in 3-10 knots of shifty breeze.  2 races in each division were sailed on Sunday.  The team finished 15th overall, with Mike Russom (13) and Ali Zablocki (12) finishing 13th in A Fleet and Jack Swikart (15) and Christina Johns (15) finishing 15th in B Fleet.

Full Results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/sherman-hoyt/

WAC Open/Central Fall #2

October 15-16, 2011

Tory Stires (14), Christine Bowman (14), Matthias Chia (15), and Elizabeth Hayt (13) traveled to Washington College this weekend to compete in the WAC Open/Central Fall #2 regatta. Despite extremely windy conditions and it being the first collegiate regatta of many of our sailors, the team had fun and finished 12th overall.

Full results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/wac-open-central-fall-2/

Navy Fall

October 15-16, 2011

Penn Sailing also traveled to the US Naval Academy to compete in the 4 division regatta Navy Fall.  The team finished 16th overall out of 18th, but fared well despite challenging conditions the first day.  Jack Swikart (15), Ali Zablocki (12), and Marina Reppucci (12) competed in the A division and finished 15th.  Christina Johns (13) and Kelsi Schoenrock (12) finished 15th in B division.  Mike Russom (13) finished 10th in C division (Laser Full Rig) and Armaan Pai (15) finished 17th in D division (Laser Radial).

Full Results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/navy-fall 

Carl Van Duyne

October 8, 2011

Mike Russom (’13) traveled to Kings Point, NY to compete in the Carl Van Duyne Trophy, the qualifying regatta for ICSA Singlehanded Championships.  Two races were held Saturday morning in a 4 knot westerly.  Races were then postponed until 5:15 and 3 races were sailed in a 5 knot southerly.  No races were held on Sunday.  Mike placed 7th out of 18.

Full Results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/carl-van-duyne/

Philly Fleet Race

October 1-2, 2011

The University of Pennsylvania hosted the 2011 Philadelphia Fleet Race this past weekend of October 1st and 2 at the Corinthian Yacht Club. Saturday provided a challenge for sailors with light winds from 5-10 kts and a seven foot tide change  On Sunday, two races were accomplished before the wind died until noon. Despite shifty conditions, the wind managed to fill strong from the southwest at 10-15 kts. A total of 12 races were sailed in each fleet.  Courses were W4. No protests were filed either day.

Stevens Institute of Technology took the win with 38 total points over 12 races, 42 less points than their nearest competitor Drexel. Gerard Tonachel ’13 skippered with Lara Paul ’15 as crew in A fleet racking up 18 points. Christian Geary ’14 skippered B fleet with Kyle Ripley ’13 and finished the regatta with 20 total points. The University of Pennsylvania Sailing Team would like to give a special thanks to Drexel and their coach, Doug Brown, for donating their coach boat to set marks for the regatta as well as Skip Skiwart for his help on Saturday setting the courses. Penn would also like to thank the Corinthian Yacht club for letting us use their facilities to host the 2011 Philadelphia Fleet Race.

Full Results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/philly-fleet-race/

St. Mary’s Fall Intersectional

September 24-25, 2011

Penn Sailing Team traveled to St. Mary’s College in Maryland to compete in St Mary’s Fall Intersectional. Despite the undesirable conditions of minimal wind, the team persevered and finished 15th overall. Mike Russom (’13) and Ali Zablocki (’12) finished 14th overall in the A fleet and Jack Swikart (’15) and Christina Johns (’13) finished 17th overall.

Full Results: http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/st-mary-fall/

Central Fall #1

The Penn Sailing Team traveled to Tom’s River Yacht Club in Tom’s River, NJ this, weekend to compete in their first double-handed, In-Conference Championship. The, Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s Central Fall #1 regatta was hosted by Ocean County College on September 17th and 18th 2011. Sixteen colleges competed at Tom’s River this weekend in Tech Dingys and 420s. “A” fleet started the regatta off in the Tech Dingy while “B” fleet spent the first half in 420s. Penn Junior Mike Russom won “A” fleet with Ali, Zablocki and Kelsi Schoenrock. Freshman Jack Swikart showed great promise sailing to fourth, place in “B” fleet with Christina Johns and Marina Reppucci sailing crew.

The Penn sailors showed their versatility by placing second place overall despite a shifty, 5-15 knot breeze. On Sunday the wind filled to 20kts and 20 degree shifts. They finished behind Navy by only 2 points and, secured a berth at the 2011 War Memorial at the US Naval Academy on October 29-30th. The War Memorial Trophy is the MAISA Championship. The top 8 teams qualify for Atlantic Coast Championships.

For detailed results, please visit http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/maisa-central-qualifier/

This week the team is setting their focus on the St. Mary’s Intersectional at St. Mary’s, College of Maryland. The scores at St. Mary’s will establish the Penn national ranking.

Laser South #1 Regatta

This weekend marked the official start to the 2011 Fall Season for the Penn Sailing Team. Freshman, Jack Swikart and Junior, Mike Russom traveled to Annapolis, MD to compete in the Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s “Laser South #1” Regatta held September 10-11 2011. The regatta was hosted by the United States Naval Academy and held in Laser Full-Rigs. MAISA Laser South #1 also served as the Carl Van Duyne Memorial Regatta qualifier- the top six finishers move onto the Van Duyne to be held at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point) October 8-9 2011.

Despite light and fluky conditions, our sailors persevered. Jack Swikart emerged from his first Intercollegiate regatta with a respectable 8th place finish in the 20-boat field. Over the course of the nine race series, Jack earned three top-three finished (2, 2, 3). Mike Russom was able to remain consistent in the skilled fleet and never finished worse than fifth place. In the end, such consistency paid off as Russom placed 2nd overall (behind Georgetown University’s Chris Barnard ’13). This finish earned Russom a berth in the 2011 Carl Van Duyne Memorial Regatta. The Van Duyne is MAISA’s Singlehanded Nationals Qualifier. Best of luck to Mike in his search to place top 4 at the Van Duyne at King’s Point in a month. Single-handed Nationals will be held in Chicago at Northwestern University in early November.

For full results:
http://scores.collegesailing.info/f11/laser-south/full-scores

This week the team shifts focus back to double-handed sailing and prep for the season’s first double-handed, In-Conference Championship: The MAISA Central #1 at Ocean County College in Tom’s River New Jersey. The top four teams at this Weekend’s MAISA Championship will qualify to compete at the WAR Memorial Trophy to be held at Navy, October 29-30 2011.