Feb. 11, 2007
Charleston, SC - The #10 Stanford Women Sailors traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for the annual the season opener at the College of Charleston on February 11-12. The Charleston Women's Intersectional is the jumping off point for many programs, and always promises a deep fleet with great competition. This year was no different; 8 teams, including Stanford, were ranked in the top 15 in the country.
On Saturday, a light and shifty 3-6 mph NNW wind prevailed in the morning, with a slack flood tide. The wind shifted to the SSE in the afternoon, and the tide began to ebb. Sailing in A Division, Seniors Caroline Young and Joanna Madsen started the regatta with consistent finishes and were at the top of their division at the end of day one. Junior Evan Brown and Sophomore Taylor Grimes also sailed great races in B Division, posting nothing worse than 3rd on the first day.
Day two saw lighter and shifty winds, which started from NE and finally settled into the SSE by day's end. The shifty conditions posed a greater challenge for the lady Cardinals as they slipped to 3rd overall by the end of Sunday. Caroline Young and Joanna finished 5th in A Division while Evan Brown with crews Taylor Grimes and Sarah Schoknecht sailed to 2nd in B Division.
Head coach Jay Kehoe commented, "It was good to be in the hunt for most of the regatta. And it is always great to have a good result early in the season. However, it shows that we have a ton of work to do to make it to the post-season at the end of May."
Vallejo, CA - This past weekend, the coed dinghy squad began the season at two separate one-day regattas hosted by the California Maritime Academy. On Saturday at the North 1, the current ebbed all day, peaking at 2.5 knots with light and variable winds. The Varsity team comprised of Sophomores TJ Tullo and Beth Hoover in A Division with Juniors Jonah Greenberger and Merrit Kennedy in B Division sailed to 5th place overall in a field of 15 teams from all over northern California.. In A Division for the Junior Varsity team was Cameron Bell and Marisa Choy with Jared Sun and Scott Hofmeister in B Division.
A different group of Cardinal sailors traveled to Cal Maritime on Sunday to compete in the North 2, another qualifier for the Pacific Coast Championship to be held in April at the University of Hawaii. Senior Emery Wager and freshman Leigh Hammel won A Division for the Varsity Team. Junior Craig Paige and freshmen Megan Grove crushed B Division, finishing 1st in every race save one, and secured a victory for the Varsity Team. Our veteran Junior Varsity team of Eddie Conrad and Becca Levin in A Division, paired with younger members, Peter Stemler and Shira Shane in B Division took home second place.
This weekend, the Coed sailors head to Charleston for their 1st Intersectional regatta of the season.