The Sailing Team showed off one of its three new FJs at the Purple Key Fair and Ice Cream Social for Accepted Students Day at Williams. THe response was great, with 58 visiting students requesting more information about both the Sailing Team and our Learn-to-Sail program. Six of those interested, many of them committed to Williams through Early Decision applications, expressed that they had significant sailing and racing experience. It looks like next year we will have a great number of new freshman joining the team to expand our race program!
April 14-15th Yale Regatta Report
Hey Everyone!
Williams raced two regattas this weekend, one at home and one at the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club in Branford, CT. Andrew Lorenzen ’12, Joshua Revkin ’13 and Will Hayes’14 Skippered, while Mimi Ludwig ’12 and Rachel Burns ’15 crewed. Saturday brought light but stead 5-10kt winds as Williams took on their Varsity competitors in 18 of Yale’s 420s sailing combined divisions. Will Hayes sat out the first day while Joshua Revkin took a break on the second to get everyone out on the water. The team took full advantage of their close accommodations at Josh’s house, less than a block away from YCYC, by getting out of their drysuits and relaxing on the couch during the lunch break on Saturday. Sunday brought light and variable winds, often dying completely. 5 races were completed, the 6th being called off when all hope for fresh breeze was lost. The team ended up in 6th place overall in the 9 boat fleet, right behind the host team from Yale. A shout-out to Mike D’Amico, one of the team’s awesome new friends from Mitchell College, who we hope to grill out with the Mitchell team soon at an upcoming regatta!
Josh Revkin ’13
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New Sails
New sails for the new FJs are in! Similar ones for the 420s have been ordered too. Can’t wait to see a heard of purple cows sailing on Pontoosuc! Get excited!
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Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta Essay Contest
After the Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta this fall at Larchmont Yacht Club, Sailing World Magazine hosted an essay contest about the event. Below is captain, Elizabeth Dorr’s, submission about this year’s IOR, the Williams team, and why she loves college sailing so much. Enjoy!
Sailing the Radio Waves
The moment, Brian, the owner’s representative, stepped on board Shaun Ensor’s Farr 395 “Fearless,” he didn’t even mutter a hello before clambering below deck and turning on the radio full blast. The Williams team all looked at each other out of surprise for a moment, but smiles crept across our faces, and we knew right then this was going to be a fun weekend at the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta.
The radio remained on at full volume for the rest of the weekend, regardless of whether we were racing or not. Set to the “Classic Vinyl” satellite station, Mr. Ensor knew every word to every song and proceeded to sing along from his perch back aft or down below for the entirety of the weekend. We all sang along on long upwind beats and rested our eyes between races to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man.”
From the start, we decided as a team to have fun first and be competitive second. The Williams Sailing Team operates as a club sport with a minimal budget from the college and a fleet of boats almost as old as our freshman. We teach people how to sail as well as foster a competitive race team that can keep up with the larger programs we sail against in NEISA. Going into the IOR this year, we had a team of nearly half new freshman and very little big boat experience. We embraced this weekend as a chance to reward our hard work in the season thus far, have fun, meet new people, and learn as much as we could about big boat racing. Our goal was to be in the solid middle of our fleet. Because we knew were at a disadvantage from the get-go, we weren’t going to take ourselves too seriously. After wearing purple cow print pinnies, we couldn’t look that much more ridiculous belting out classic rock hits at the tops of our lungs.
Keeping the tunes playing in the background helped to ground us in why we were here, to have fun and learn something new. It kept the stress level low and spirits high, and low and behold, it paid off! We showed steady improvement Saturday and were really excited to keep up the pace on Sunday. The one race that got off but was finally abandoned on Sunday was our best yet. We got lucky out on the left side of the racecourse and rounded the windward mark first in our fleet. However, with the wind dying and shifting, we didn’t make the offset and had to douse the spinnaker and spin around to make it. We quickly made up ground, passing the few boats that took advantage of our snafu at the offset and were in the lead when the race was abandoned. We were all crouched to leeward, silent, only the radio blaring in the background, keeping us positive as we slowly crept past those boats downwind. If only that race hadn’t been abandoned! I truly believe that the radio helped us maintain a relaxed and positive attitude, and it really started to pay off, even if the wind wasn’t in our favor.
It’s little things like the sing-a-longs to the radio that really make college sailing fun for me. Oftentimes, I feel like other teams take themselves way too seriously, and while being competitive is important, you often do better when not so stressed and having fun. The Williams team is great at appreciating the small things, and that’s why I love my teammates so much. As my last fall sailing season comes to a close right now, my most vivid memories of college sailing are not scores and races, but team parties, meeting other sailors at regattas, restaurants we ate at after starving all day on the water, prizes I won at the IOR raffle, even singing along to the “Classic Vinyl” radio station. The Storm Trysail Club Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta at Larchmont Yacht Club has been such a great learning experience for me over the past three years, and these remain some of my most cherished memories of college sailing. I’m sad I won’t be able to compete next year, but who knows, maybe I will sneak my way onto the Williams boat as a coach…
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Victory at Ross Trophy
In Boston on Saturday, October 1st, the Williams College Sailing Team won the Richard B. Ross College Bowl Regatta. In a regatta featuring eight other teams and 17 boats total, all Rhodes 19s, team members Josh Revkin ’13 and Isaac Loh ’15 won three of five individual races over the course of the day. The day’s events proceeded with one division of fleet racing, in which each individual boat competed against all other boats in the field. In each of the five races, score matched finishing place, with the lowest score at the end of the day the winning one.
Having won the first race by a significant margin, the two spent much of the second race in third place until they took advantage of a favorable wind shift late in the course to end in first again. After an aggressive move by a competitor at the starting line, Williams managed to make up several spots and complete the course in fifth. Revkin, who steered the boat as skipper, called the move “probably our best sailing of the day.” Tied going into the final race, they managed to edge out the competition at the end of the course to win race and regatta.
The victory marks a significant achievement for the sailing team, which often fields novices in a league dominated by strong, established varsity programs. The win also marks an amazing start for freshman Loh, who sailed for the first time ever when he joined the Williams College Sailing team this year. “It was great that Josh managed to finish as well as we knew he could, and it’s really remarkable he did it with someone who was totally knew to racing,” said team captain Andrew Lorenzen ’12.
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Underdogs Trophy
The Ephs sailed at the Underdog Trophy Regatta hosted by Brandeis at Boston University this weekend, competing against ten other small schools for a spot at the Atlantic Coast Tournament.
Saturday dawned with winds gusting at 15-22 knots on the Charles River. Shifting conditions caused at least one capsize every set, but Williams held strong without a single mishap. Eight races were sailed in A Division and 6 races in B Division in FJs on a W4 course.
The Ephs improved steadily throughout the day, starting with 7th place finishes for A Division team Andrew Lorenzen, ’12, and Emily Cook, ’13, who pulled ahead to finish 4th in both races of the final set.
Saturday’s wind conditions held over through Sunday, in which 3 races were sailed in A Division and 5 in B Division. B Division’s Josh Revkin, ’13, and Molly McEntee, ’14, had a strong start, but a boat malfunction in their second race contributed to an 11th place finish overall.
A Division had their best race of the day, getting a good start and major lift in the 10th race, taking them on a starboard tack all the way to the windward mark. They finished in first place, 7 boat lengths ahead of the entire fleet. “It was a great feeling,” said Lorenzen. “Despite less than ideal conditions, we had a strong finish to our season.”
Coach Rich Cote is proud of the team’s performance. “This season we had a tougher schedule than we’ve had in the past,” said Cote, “And the team has really risen to the occasion. All of our new sailors have really improved and we’re well-prepared for the spring.”
UConn sailed away with the trophy and will go to the ACT in two weeks. Williams placed 7th in A Division, 11th in B Division, and 9th overall.
The team plans on using the winter to teach tactics and skills and will start the spring season when the ice melts.
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New Boats
College Council has approved a budget that includes money for two new boats. The Record has written a great article about College Council’s decision, which can be found here: http://record.williams.edu/wp/?p=14900
We will purchase two new FJs this winter, and launch them in the spring.
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Storm Trysail Foundation’s Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta
Williams Sailing thoroughly enjoyed the Storm Trysail Foundation’s Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta at Larchmont Yacht Club over Columbus Day weekend, despite suffering the loss of a spinnaker on the first day of the races.
The Ephs sailed a J-109 owned by Chris McGuire. The boat was skippered by Josh Revkin, ’13, with captains Andrew Lorenzen and Elizabeth Dorr, ’12, calling tactics and trimming main, respectively.
“Larchmont is a really great experience for dinghy sailors,” said Lorenzen, “It’s a great opportunity to learn how to sail big boats and gain experience sailing a single boat as a team.”
Winds on Saturday and Sunday were at a steady 10-15 knots in the morning, gusting to 20 in the afternoons. The races were course 4s and 3s, with upwind marks just over a mile from the starting line. The skies were clear and conditions were perfect for the Ephs, whose team was lightweight compared to other colleges.
After a solid start during the first race on Saturday, on the second downwind leg of the race the spinnaker blew out. The team handled the upset well, successfully dousing the spinnaker, but as a result the Ephs were forced to sail the remaining three races of the day with the significant handicap of sailing wing-on-wing rather than with a spinnaker, which maximizes downwind speed. The loss of the spinnaker led to 8th place finishes on day one in the second and fourth races; the team overcame enormous odds, however, to beat Michigan for 7th place in the third race.
Day two dawned cooler and winds were a little lighter, but it was clear that the Ephs had vastly improved. With the previous day’s experience under their belts, their starts were more competitive and their tacks were smoother. More importantly, the team had a borrowed spinnaker. Williams placed 5th in the final race on Sunday, but due to the disadvantages came in last overall, while Maine Maritime and Mass Maritime tied for first.
Coach Rich Cote is thrilled with the team’s performance. “It’s great to get new sailors onto big boats, to experience racing at that level,” Cote said. “Larchmont Yacht Club is very generous to host the regatta each year and I’m sure next year our sailors, due to this year’s experience, will place even higher.”
Williams Sailing can’t wait until next year’s Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta. In the meantime, the team will race this weekend at University of Southern Maine.
By Emily Cook
Team Correspondent
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Sailing finishes 11th at fall opener
Williams College sailing opened its fall season amidst fierce competition at Dartmouth this weekend at the 12th annual Chris Loder Trophy Regatta. Although the U.S. Coast Guard Academy came away with the cup, Williams B Fleet came in 11th out of 19 teams and the Ephs finished 17th overall.
Coach Rich Cote is proud of the efforts of the sailors. “ The team has worked hard to get back to this level of competitiveness,” Cote said. “Placing 11th in an event such as the Loder is a major accomplishment.”
Winds at Lake Mascoma, NH, on Saturday gusted at 10-15 knots, creating strong but unsteady wind conditions. The course had to be changed several times in response to wind shifts. 12 races in total were sailed on Saturday in FJs, a 13-ft long sailing dinghy.
The Williams A Fleet found itself struggling during the periods when the wind would die. Josh Revkin and Emily Cook, ’13, faced difficulties in the downwind legs of the races. However, captains Andrew Lorenzen and Elizabeth Dorr, ’12, sailed B Fleet and consistently placed in the top half, with a final score of 87. Lorenzen and Dorr’s best race came midway through the afternoon on Saturday, when they finished 9th, just behind Mass Maritime.
Sunday dawned with absolutely no wind, and the start of the second day of races was delayed until noon, when a steady breeze picked up and continued steadily at 5-8 knots. Williams A Fleet placed 18th in both races on Sunday while B Fleet placed 12th and 10th in their first and second races, respectively.
The Loder regatta had been relocated to the Dartmouth Corinthian Yacht Club after the University of New Hampshire’s boathouse burned to the ground this past spring. UNH usually hosts the Loder Trophy, but Dartmouth generously offered its facilities for this year’s regatta.
After placing in this regatta, Williams Sailing achieved 31st in NEISA (New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association) rankings. Cote is pleased with the direction the team is moving in.
“After going through a rebuilding period, it’s great to be competing in major events
again,” Cote said. “I am very happy with the progress the team is making. Our
experienced sailors are competitive on a national level and our up and coming sailors are progressing faster than I expected.”
The Ephs will sail again next weekend at MIT in the Smith Trophy and at Courageous Sailing Center in the Ross Trophy.
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