CNU Sailing

This was the first annual Brennan Russell Regatta and it was a good one. Saturday produced no wind, but with a free lunch of turkey soup served in mugs made just for the occasion. Brennan was of one our most popular team mates ever. Brennan was killed in an automobile accident just after Thanksgiving last year and it seemed most appropriate that our final regatta of the year, just before Thanksgiving, should be held in his memory. The many donations to the team, made in his memory, allowed us to replace the aging equipment shed before it completely rusted away.

We want to particularly recognize the people who did so much to make this a great event. The women of the team and several parents loaded us up with all sorts of cookies. Sam and Bret Winters made the gallons of turkey soup, appropriate for the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was especially nice having Brennan’s father, mother, sister and step father here on Saturday. The fact that we didn’t go sailing made for a long afternoon of remembrance.

We had five teams in attendance and both CNU and William & Mary put extra teams on the water to give us a seven team event. We sailed both A and B Divisions in a combined fleet to put 14 boats on the starting line, which made things more exciting. While Saturday offered no wind, Sunday was great with a breeze that varied from 5 to ten knots and a directional swing of about 40 degrees from the southwest that made playing the shifts important. CNU won the event with 2nds in both divisions. America University was 1st in A Division and Hampton University took 1st in B Division.

IMAGE: Natalie & Amy, our winning B Division pair

IMAGE: M.C. & Grace, our A Division Team

This year’s edition of the CNU Alumni Regatta was a resounding success and as perfect a weekend of sailing as we could ask for. The racing was held inside Deep Creek, and it blew. This was a bit tough on our current light team members, but on Sunday morning it was clear that the “old guys” were suffering too – from various strains and fatigue. But every one had a great time. An additional benefit of sailing inside was that it offered great viewing by parents and supporters. We have had more parental interest and support this year than any other and parents are always welcome (particularly when they come bearing cookies, cakes, candy, and other goodies!).

This year’s event was held in memory of Jim White who was an Assistant Coach for the team from 1999 to 2007 and we featured many of our favorite pictures of him on the team’s big screen during the roast. No one was more caring of the team than was Jim who died just days before the event.

The Oyster Roast on Saturday night, the Christopher Newport Sailing Foundation’s primary fundraiser, was a winner. Held this year at the Sailing Center, the oyster roast gave parents and supporters a chance to see our facility and this made it easier for team members to help with that event while still sailing in the regatta. The list of people we have to thank for this event is long. It includes all of the team who spent days preparing the Center, and the Foundation members, George Tatum, and Maxwell Plarr in particular. George’s father, Sam, made his houseboat available for the spectators. Others who helped the effort were Bob Chisom the Foundation Treasurer, Sam Winters handled registration, Hiley Sheets was our official scorer ashore, and Victoria Miller, our team Captain was invaluable all week. Jesse Hutchenson from the university was on hand and complied a stunning collection of photographs that will be seen far into the future. I can’t tell you how envious I am of his photographic talent. With a team made up of thirteen very attractive young ladies, we want photographs!

The format for the regatta was to put our three best pairs of the current team on the water with team’s alumni. Other current team members crewed for returning skippers when crews were lacking. The mix, that included some of the best sailors in team history, produced a fleet in which nearly all had a good race or two. The racing was done on the current most popular course configuration of a four legs, windward-leeward, with an off-set windward mark and a leeward gate. Inside the narrow Deep Creek this was perfect and the winds of from 10 to 20+ made for many shifts and good racing, and some capsizes. Another feature of this year’s event was the fact that it is now a full weekend event rather than a single day of sailing. We even had an informal open house on Friday evening to welcome sailors coming from far away. There really is nothing our team members take away from their college sailing days that is more valuable than the memories and friendships. In some ways, this was a weekend love fest.

Here is how the final places went with a notation of the last year in which each sailed (or will sail) for the team.

1st Ben France 2009 & Kate McClintock (Gomes) 2008

2nd Keith Goodwin 1998 & Susan Goodwin 1997

3rd Maxwell Plarr 2011 & Annie Eckmann 2014

4th Brain Huntsman 1991 & Erin Gallagher 2014

5th Mary Catherine Buhl 2013 & Grace Bluefeld 2015

6th Will Summers 2007 & Kira Munger 2012

7th Mark Newman 2007 & Megan Murray 2006

8th Victoria Miller 2013 & Tara Mahoney 2013

9th Jessica Thal 2010 & Lynn Ball 2010

10th Maggie Gore 2013 & Faith Swan 2015

11th Mike Weaver 1995 & Kristina 2014

12th Natalie Ross 2015 & Amy Craven 2013

13th Matt Lythgoe 2008 & Noah Borthen 2005

14th Mark Stephens 2004 & Melissa

I have just one more thank you I can’t overlook. More appreciation than I can ever express goes to Bret Winters. He was on the water for every race calling the line, noting the finishes and performing rescues in between. Saturday night he was the grillmaster all night long. Finally, he was the last to leave on Sunday afternoon helping with the final clean up. Thank you, Bret.

The Luce regatta is what I like to call “The Runner-up’s Bowl.” It is the event for the teams that didn’t make it into the War Memorial Regatta. Still, it is very important for scheduling in the next year and to win it guarantees us a better position in the draft. Our 1st there means we are ranked 19th of the 48 teams in MAISA. That means we are pretty near certain to get all the events we want in 2012. With our improving team, we’ll want that edge as we go to more difficult events.

Our team at the Luce was Victoria Miller and Tara Mahoney sailing in the A Division and M.C. Buhl and Grace Bluefeld sailing in B. Both crews won their divisions. MC and Grace did particularly well posting four 1st place finishes. Victoria and Tara won the tie breaker over Hampton by having more 2nd place finishes.

It was unfortunate that we didn’t have more teams, but three dropped out late, probably because of the bad weather over the weekend and all the dropping teams were from farther up Route 95.

The HU team did a good job of running the event with the CNU coaches, Dan and Max, setting marks and tending the starting line and Villanova coach Matt Newborn helping out on the Committee Boat. The winds were a bit more than we would have liked for our light team, but the event proved how well they are learning to handle high winds. It seems this year that we either have no wind or too much.