Oct. 21, 2009
New Haven, Conn. - Both the Coed and Women's teams traveled to the east coast this past weekend for major fall competitions at Navy and Yale. Sailors were greeted at each venue by a cold front that saw temps in the low 40s, heavy rain, and blustery winds throughout the weekend.
The Naval Academy played host to 20 of the top teams in the country this weekend at their annual Navy Fall Intersectional. Navy Fall has always been one of the toughest events to win, always showing a teams true depth, since it is a 4-division regatta sailed in FJs, 420s, Laser Full-Rigs, and Laser Radials. The Stanford Coed team finished 11th overall. Justin Doane '12 led the team with a strong showing in D-division (Laser Radial) finishing in the top 10 in 11 of the 20 races throughout the weekend. Doane also won 3 races, which helped put him in 8th place overall in D-division. In C-Division, (Laser Full-Rig) Wade Hatton '13 sailed a consistent event to finish 11th I his division. In the double-handed divisions, Stanford was represented by Cole Hatton '11 and Rebecca King '13 in A-division, and Nick Dugdale '12 and Margaret Hayden '13 in B-division. This was Hayden's first major regatta, as she joined the team only two weeks ago. Hayden had this to say about her experience at Navy and a major college regatta, "it was a very intense, competitive environment, but it was a great way to learn new skills quickly and gain experience. I'm looking forward to my next east coast regatta!"
At Yale, Hannah Burroughs '11 and crew Katie Lund '13, sailing A-division, started the regatta on the right foot, winning race 1 by a solid margin over her competitors. Throughout the day though, the breeze shifted further north behind the land and made for some challenging, shifty conditions for competitors. Those conditions posed a problem for the lady Cardinal who couldn't get into phase early enough to break into the top tier in any races in the afternoon. On Sunday, with a strong Nor'easter building and B-division sailors, Eliza Richartz '13 and crew Megan Grove finally finding a groove, the Stanford women were able to put together some stronger finishes to move from 17th to 14th in the final standings.
The Coed team will travel to Brown next weekend for the Sherman Hoyt trophy, while the Women will host the Bryson Women's Intersectional at Stanford.