Salve Regina sailing escapes to Charleston, S.C.
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Salve Regina sailors - JP Silvestri (Stuart, Fla.), Bob Lippincott (Oxford, Md.), Baillie Lawless (Rochester, N.Y.), Chris Jensen (Mountain View, Calif.) and Angelina Todaro (Ipswich, Mass.) - traveled to Charleston, S.C., for an intersectional regatta hosted by the College of Charleston.
The strong westerly winds on the Cooper River did not allow for any racing Saturday. Sailors launched their boats in a five to seven knot westerly and headed to Crab Bank for a 9:30 a.m. start on Sunday. As things warmed up and the sun came out, the wind died. Crab Bank was a mirror as the tide began to ebb, causing initial race cancellations. The southerly began to slowly fill in and racing got started right at noon.
http://scores.collegesailing.org/s14/charleston-spring-co-ed/
While the breeze built and shifted around for hours on Sunday morning, it finally settled into a comfortable five to 12 knot southerly breeze that allowed for competitive racing. Completing a total of 12 races between two divisions, the Seahawks finished in the top 10 in half of the races. Unfortunately tight scores and a few bad races kept the team from securing a top position.
"Of course we would have liked to have finished higher," said co-captain Chris Jensen. "It was just good for us to get back on the water and knock off the rust." A tough winter has kept the team from being able to launch their fleet and begin practices.
"We've been doing a lot to get ready for the season," comments co-captain Bob Lippincott. "You can do the workouts and meetings but there is nothing like actually sailing to get back into the groove." Lippincott and his crew, Baillie Lawless, showed their eagerness to get back to racing by starting the regatta off with a thirdand fourth place finish in their first set.
"While we easily could have done better," noted coach Michael Komar. "I saw a lot of great things from our team here. With teams coming from California and Wisconsin to race here, we have to keep in mind that we are going against the best sailors in the country every weekend."
Salve Regina finished ahead of the hometown Cougars as well as beating national powerhouse Georgetown, Clemson University and Georgia Tech.
The Seahawks next hit the water March 1st for the Thames River Team Race at Connecticut College. They hope to get a break in the winter weather and be able to practice out of Fort Adams before the regatta.