This weekend I sailed the Carl Van Duyne men’s singlehanded regatta. This regatta was hosted at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and served as the MAISA men’s singlehanded qualifier for the ICSA national championship. 18 sailors assembled at the Naval Academy to compete the prestigious event. 6 qualified at the MAISA south regatta (where I placed 5th), 6 qualified at the MAISA north regatta at King’s Point and 6 qualified at a combined north and south regatta hosted two weekends ago at Navy.

On Saturday, I was psyched up. I knew I was a bit of an underdog so I rigged the navy laser as quickly as possible then sat down with my coach, Jack Kerr to try and figure out the 10-knot southwesterly breeze.

The sail out was spectacular. In addition to the Van Duyne, Navy was hosting the annual Navy Fall Women’s Intersectional. In total there were 78 navy boats sailing across Annapolis Harbor. This, combined with the sailboat traffic associated with the Annapolis Boat Show, made for a truly spectacular sight. As a senior who has been involved in college sailing for the last six seasons, I couldn’t help but take a moment to admire the day.

The racing started in a building 12 knots. The first three races were strange to say the least. I’m not making excuses but over the course of the first three races the wind rotated 90 degrees to the right to align with the Severn River. I finished around mid-fleet for all six races we completed before lunch.

After lunch the breeze built to a sustained 20 knots coming straight down the Severn River. Normally with that direction at Navy we sail right off the seawall but due to the Navy Women’s regatta we had to return to our course by the Annapolis towers. I performed significantly better in the afternoon with three top five finishes in the 8 races after lunch. It was a long day in the breeze. After 14 races I finished the day in 7th overall.

On Sunday we arrived to chilly temps, rain and very little breeze. Thankfully Navy’s Ian Burman had the foresight to complete most of the regatta on Saturday so, with 4 races planned, we launched and headed to Eastport in a 4 knot Northerly.

I was excited at that chance to change the channel. With Jack’s help I developed a plan for to first race. After my best start of the regatta I reached the first mark in the lead and was able to maintain for the rest of the race. In the second race I went and did it again only losing to Georgetown’s Chris Barnard on the last downwind. The last two races of the regatta didn’t go quite as well (finished around 10th) but I was still very happy with my day. I maintained my position and finished the regatta in 7th place.

For full results: http://scores.collegesailing.org/f12/carl-van-duyne-maisa-men-singles/full-scores/

-Mike Russom, Captain