Sailing finishes third at Southern Collegiate Offshore Regatta

By Kerry Deaver
Sailing Head Coach

The Cal Maritime Sailing Team traveled to Charleston this past weekend for the Southern Collegiate Offshore Regatta, hosted by College of Charleston.

I specifically requested the most competitive fleet, J105 class of 12 boats, to get the team a little experience in racing and starting in a one-design fleet. We practiced in 15-18kts on Friday, getting a feel for the tidal flows and the two rivers. Saturday was much lighter in the 8-10kt range. Add in the ebb which switched to an in your face flood and it provided a stern challenge for the crew.

Five races of two lap windward/leeward courses of .8nm legs put them through their paces. We were tied for third on points but would loose the tie breaker. With the threat of lightening for Sunday afternoon, the RC ran one long distance random leg race in 12-15kts and building, counting for double points.

I am happy to share that after a number of lead swaps with the other third-place boat, our team came through with a clutch performance that put them away and secured third overall for the weekend I am proud to say this was a solid third-place performance ... the crew represented themselves and their school very well and with pride.

A special thank you to Dennis Deisinger for allowing the team to practice on his J105 and to spend a weekend racing with them on the Bay prior to the regatta because that made all the difference in the world.