Cal Maritime Wins Shields Cup Again
1st at Shields for the Fifth Time
Although Cal Maritime has had great success in the Shields Trophy regatta, having won it 4 times the 6 six years we competed, this team only had two member who had sailed at Navy before and that was just last year winning the Kennedy Cup. Of the six other members, four were freshman and three were woman, both record numbers for CMA and I would wager for the fleet this year.
Having been able to practice on a Navy 44 in San Francisco thanks to the UC Berkeley NROTC & Baker Marine Group, the team headed Annapolis with some team work down but looking forward to the practice day on Friday. After a delayed red eye flight and some other travel hiccups we made our way through security and down to the amazing Robert Crown Center and spectacular boat basin of the Naval Academy. We had a good practice and the team came together as they tried different sets and douses, completed many tacks and jibes and apart from a out of character disastrous final set called it a day.
Friday night we were treated to a home cooked meal thanks to long time supporters Mark Sweeney and Amy Windham. After dinner Mark talked with the team about local condition and the forecast for the weekend which was for light and shifty wind out of the north.
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and with some breeze filling in. The team headed out without me to get their final practice and really bond as a team. I headed out on the coach boat with my counterparts from USCGA and Mass Maritime. We were joined later by coaches from West Point and Maine Maritime who had gone out with their teams for the morning practice.
The race committee had the course set up for an on time 12:00 start. CMA had practiced, taken a break for lunch and were ready to go when I noticed someone up the rig at about 11:50. Seems that there were some sharp pins up the rig, the culprit of a torn genoa on Friday that needed attention. Taping was completed and our sails would be safe. For the first time since I have been coming to this regatta, the put up course three which translates to three legs and a finish upwind. I crossed my fingers that our tactician caught on to the. We had a great start partly due to half the fleet mistaking the leeward mark for the starting pin and we were off, leading wire to wire. On the second upwind leg, about half the fleet had their spinnakers on deck as if to sail a fourth leg. The finish line was set up as the boats were about three quarters up the leg. Maine Maritime in second place started to head to the weather mark but our team sailed by and headed to the finish. Maine lost to Navy who also went straight to the finish.
On the second race we had again set up perfectly but misjudged the line and crossed early requiring us to return and re-start. The course was 3 legs again but we sailed well, hit the wind shifts and the crew work around the marks brought us back to second place. In the third race the fleet was more aggressive and with the committee boat end of the starting line favored, the boats got stacked up. We held our position and peeled off Navy and a couple of other on the committee boat. Finding a clear lane, we relied on boat speed and good strategy to win again. As is always the case on the Chesapeake, it isn't over until it is over and although at the start of race four, they looked okay, they were ninth at the weather mark. A great move at the leeward mark gaining four positions was lost on the second upwind leg. They clawed their way back to sixth on what turned out to be the last race of the day and the regatta.
Tied with Navy with 10 points, the math worked in our favor. Both of us had two bullets (firsts) but we had a 2nd to their 3rd.
Sunday was a waiting game. Hoping for real breeze to fill in and finish the regatta strong yet worried that they might sail us in too light of air that can be like rolling the dice. The race committee held out until after 12:00 but seeing that there was no sign of the breeze building before the 1:00 deadline they sent us in. The team heard it on the radio before we did on the coach boat and there were loud celebrations. I was really happy and proud of this young team.
Matthew Van Rensselaer '13 moved from main trim to helm. Kyle Vanderspek '13, returned as the stellar bowman. Scott Doyle '14 at mast and Sara Himes '13 in the pit rounded out the bow team. They made the hoists and douses look easy as they cemented their crew work. Trimming were Andrew Lamb '14 and Jessica Bernhard '14 on headsails and Jessica Schember on main. Dillon Lancaster '14 from Southern California was used to the light air and able to prove a strong tactician.
We made our way through Washington DC for some quick sightseeing before heading to the airport for yet another delayed flight. In spite of our travel headaches we had a great trip back to Annapolis and came home with the Shields Trophy, again!