This weekend Penn competed in the Cornell Fall Open hosted at the sailing center on Cayuga Lake, just north of Ithaca New York. With a fleet of 18 420s we were in a rotations all weekend with A Division sailed by Drew Gallagher (C’18) and B Division skipper Carolyn Kearney (C’18) starting with Jack Swikart (C’15) relieving her. The crews for the weekend were Foster Collins (C’16) and Cary Kane (C’17). The regatta offered a choice opportunity for the new recruits (Drew and Carolyn) to get used to sailing at the college level in a low pressure environment, in preparation for the coming season.

Saturday started as a cold and rainy morning with temperatures in the low 50s and light shifty conditions. Drew and Cary started in A, with Carolyn and Foster in B. Results were solidly in the top 10 for the day even though the conditions were tough. The lake provided a challenging venue because of the localized shifts and puffs that allowed a select few boats to sail away with the race. After the second set, Jack, who had thus far been the acting coach for this regatta stepped in to B to get some practice in 420s with Cary (who was switched from A) to get some practice together ahead of Sunday’s dismal forecast. By the beginning of the A set, the breeze had shifted by about 180 degrees and increased to over 20 kts, which worked in favor of the A crew switch, with Drew and Foster hiking their way to a well-earned 2^nd in the first race. Unfortunately racing was called for the evening after only a single A race.

Sunday morning started after Jack’s gleeful trip through Tim Hortons (a Canadian donut chain with clearly superior donut holes). In contrast to the day before, Sunday’s weather was beautiful with skies clearing around noon. Luckily the forecast was not as bad as first thought, and we were able to get 6 rotations with only a few light air races. The day went well for A with the heavy pair of Drew and Foster finishing with top tens, all the while learning the dos and don’ts of college sailing. Carolyn and Cary had a great first set in B coming out of the gate with a bullet in their first race of the day. Jack switched in to B Division again to give Carolyn some much-needed rest, and ran away with the last 4 races with bullets across the last two sets.

Next weekend is all hands of deck as we send out two full squads to Nevins Trophy and Central Fall Qualifiers!

Signing off,

Foster Collins ’16