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!

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!

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

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/

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/

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 

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/

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/

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/

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.