Dinghy Sailing takes 3rd in Santa Barbara

The Cal State University Maritime Dinghy Sailing Team had its first race of the second semester in Santa Barbara. The Keelhaulers came in 3rd among the eight schools participating in the Gaucho Team Race.

For the Keelhaulers first team race of the year, coach Tyler Wolk was pleased with the result.

"We haven't done a whole lot of team racing yet, so to come in 3rd is impressive," Coach Wolk said. "It's a good start. I was glued to watching them and how well team captain Johannes McElvain and the crew worked out there. I was really happy to see it all."

Cal Maritime went 7-1 on day one to make the final four on Sunday. Day two featured shifty and difficult conditions for the regatta. Racing started on time, but due to very erratic and large wind shifts, racing was postponed on the water while the RC waited for the breeze to stabilize from the west.

A decision was made to go to the knock-out, final-four and a consolation round after finishing the first round robin. Two rounds of the final four were completed and one consolation round was completed as well as the breeze came up late in the day.

Maritime went 1-4 on day two losing the head-to-head matchup with Cal Poly, which put the Keelhaulers in 3rd.

"We made a few mistakes on day two," Wolk said. "But we have three freshman out there, and took on some teams whose bread and butter is this type of race."