The Truxtun Umsted Intersectional (a.k.a. “The Trux”) is held each year at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and is widely regarded to be one of the most competitive college sailing events of the year, rivaled only by its fall counterpart Navy Fall, the ACCs, and the National Championship. The Quakers looked to improve their national standing by competing in this prestigious event among a tough field of 20 schools, which featured 17 of the top 25 schools nationwide.

Freshman Jack Swikart skippered the A Division, while Junior Christina Johns held down B Division. The Trux is a four-division regatta that features Laser Standards and Laser Radials, so Junior Captain Mike Russom anchored the team in C Division while Freshman Matthias Chia took on the D Division in only his second collegiate event. Senior Kelsi Schoenrock crewed for A Division while Marina Reppucci and Ali Zablocki, both seniors as well, split time crewing in B Division.

The summer-like weather the team enjoyed all week in practice followed them into the weekend on Saturday as they arrived to sunny skies, mild temperatures and a light breeze. Each division sailed four solid races in the morning before the breeze began to fade and the race committee called the sailors in for lunch. Unfortunately, the dying breeze never returned, and racing was called off late in the afternoon. After Day 1, the Quakers found themselves in 17th place, just behind the Terriers of Boston University. Yale led the event after day 1.

The sailors were not as lucky with the weather on Sunday, as the morning brought cloudy skies, a thick fog, and no wind. The race committee postponed on shore until about noon when a light easterly began to fill in, at which point all 80 boats left the dock looking to finish a few races before day’s end. The conditions proved difficult for the race committee, as they could not get a steady breeze to set the course until almost 2:00. The race committee fired off two quick races in the last hour of racing, bringing the regatta total to six. The Quakers fared well on the day; behind two very strong races by Captain Mike Russom in the Laser Division, the team managed to overtake Boston University to finish the regatta in 16th place, just one behind Harvard. Yale won the event, followed by Tufts in second and Brown University in third.

A special thanks to the Navy Midshipmen who, in addition to hosting the event, held a top-notch cookout on Saturday afternoon for all the sailors.

Complete scores can be found at http://scores.collegesailing.info/s12/truxtun-umsted/