US Naval Academy's Womens Fall Regatta

Last weekend saw me volunteering for the USNA Womens Regatta. I was on the start boat and boy, do you fire off a lot of starts; 36 just on Saturday. Collegiate RC is barebones; use the Ollie for time and signals, fly an orange start flag from the start boat, fly the Individual Recall flag when needed, use a loud hailer often. Because you are under a time constraint to get races off, you may wait for one or two races to confirm the median wind has shifted before moving marks. It is fast paced for an RC.

Just how good and how practiced these collegiate sailors are was driven home to me on Saturday afternoon when the wind dropped to about 10-14. With probably hundreds of starts already under their belts this season, these sailors know exactly where the line is. With under ten seconds to go the entire fleet was luffing on the line, at five seconds to go, bow down to get some speed, at 1.5 seconds punch up to the line. In the 10-14 knot wind range, the punch up is very synchronized, the entire fleet ends up about 1 foot over the line at the gun; this happens so fast and is so even that, of course, we let these starts go. Starts in more wind were not as synchronized; control becomes an issue, ditto with light air where the acceleration is not there. The awareness of where the line is and control of these dinghies is Very Impressive!

Chris of Sailgroove was there, filming .

I had two daughters that participated in collegiate athletics; I've witnessed how tough women can be in sport but this toughness continually amazes me. On Sunday, I noticed one of the Laser Radial sailors sailing around pre-start with one foot, wrapped in a tight lace up bandage, elevated on deck. I asked my compatriot, Midshipman Taylor, if she had injured it on Saturday and he said no, she injured it before the regatta even started!

Lets go to the videotape. Sailgroove interview of Caroline Wright.

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Let's dominate the 20 breeze! Tip of the hat to Caroline.