The seventh annual team banquet was held the weekend of December 3rd.  Thank you to all of the parents who supported the team and participated in the silent auction.

Collegiate Match Race National Championship 2011

The Match Race Team, consisting of Matt Graham (skipper), Kirsten Corneliussen (cockpit and spinnaker), and David Oliver (bow and jib trim), qualified for the Collegiate Match Race Nationals in San Francisco from November 17th through the 20th in J22s.  A total of 10 universities were invited to this event.  The first day of racing was chilly with winds at a steady 15-20 mph.  Since the three were 100 pounds under the weight limit, they had to work harder than the other teams to keep their boat flat and finished out the day in eighth place.  On Saturday, alumni Dan Morris and Alex Bogatko, now San Francisco residents, coached the three from the water.  The wind calmed down and the lighter boats suddenly had an advantage.  They progressed to the Top Eight round and finished the day in seventh place.  On the final day of racing, after a long morning of wind delays and sitting in cold rain, they lost to both Tufts and St. Mary's, putting them in eighth place for the regatta.  Overall, it was an amazing opportunity seeing as match racing is new to college sailing.   Being invited to the second annual collegiate Match Race National Championship was an excellent learning opportunity and great way to promote our team and our district.  A special thanks to the cheering section from Kansas, Mike and Lori Graham (Matt's parents), who flew out to watch the races live and support our team. 

Kennedy Cup 2011

The weekend of November 4-6 the team traveled to Annapolis, Maryland to compete in the Kennedy Cup at the U.S. Naval Academy. This is technically the collegiate big boat national championship event, with the winner earning a spot in the Student Yachting World Cup in France the following fall.

Friday was windy, with breeze in the mid 20s through the morning, settling to high teens by the afternoon and steady chop. We started off with a practice spinnaker run and surfed down the bay at 12 knots, before getting into the racing. For the first 3 races of the day everyone sailed without a spinnaker due to the breeze as well as a #3 jib and reefed main. We were slow to start, getting used to the boats, but by race 3 we got a third and finally finished the day under spinnakers with a fourth.

Conditions on Saturday were still settling all day from the high to low teens and we sailed 5 races, starting and ending the day with second place finishes. Race 4 of the day however saw us involved in a protest with Navy, after they fouled us while trying to clear themselves of an early start. After a late evening in the protest room, we had some authentic Maryland crab for dinner and got some rest for Sunday.

When we arrived, there was no wind, but we went out anyway to try and get 1 more race in for the series. The race committee started a race, and we led around 2 legs before they abandoned and sent us in. We finished the regatta in fifth place overall; definitely an impressive result for our first time on the Navy 44s against almost all maritime academy teams.

The team was Matt Graham, David Oliver, Liz Smith, Tanner DePriest, Ryan Seago, Kirsten Corneliussen, Amanda Baker, Mike Vittorio, Chris Oliver, and Sammy Barbour, with a special thanks to Riley Moran and his family who hosted all of us for a 3 day weekend.

Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta 2011 in Larchmont, NY

The 2011 Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta in Larchmont, NY, featured 47 teams from 39 schools making this regatta the largest collegiate regatta in the world! The Michigan Sailing Team sent 9 sailors (Amanda Baker, Sammy Barbour, Liz Smith, David Oliver, Chris Oliver, Tanner Depriest, Kirsten Corneliussen, Mike Vittorio and Matt Graham) to represent the block M at this incredible regatta.  We were given the opportunity to sail Roger Widdman's Swan 42, Quintessence. We went for a practice day on Friday to get the feel for the boat and positions, and we were off racing on Saturday morning. Saturday was a great day, the wind started of decent, died a little but picked back up at the end of the day. (Typical for Long Island Sound, I'm told). Although we had line honors on two of the three races on Saturday, we ended with 4, 3, 5 for the day. Sunday we were greeted with glassy waters and no wind. They started us regardless and we took the lead, about to finish, they abandoned the race. We did not do any further racing on Sunday and finished 4th for the weekend! I'm really proud of our team and how well we raced, we really impressed everyone out there! GO BLUE!

Recruiting Events

Come check out the sailing team at the following events!

Sept. 4: Rec Sports Expo @ Palmer Field, 11am-2pm

             Meet and Greet Party @ 1315 Cambridge, 10pm

Sept. 8: Festifall @ The Diag, 11am-4pm

Sept. 12: Mass Meeting @ Mason Hall 3460, 7:30pm

Sept. 13: Northfest @ North Diag, 11am-2pm

               First Practice, Meet behind South Quad 3pm

Sept. 17-18: First Regatta Weekend--opportunities available for freshman to travel with the team to various regattas!

Women's, Co-Eds, and Team Race

Photo courtesy of George Griswald

The team has been busy these past two months with Co-Ed Qualifier and Semi-Finals, Women's Qualifier, and Team Race Qualifier.  We hosted the Co-Ed Qualifier at Baseline Lake and 10 teams attended.  All races were finished in one day with great wind and racing on Saturday.  Wisconsin took first overall, and Michigan took second.  The other teams that qualified for the Semi Finals in Long Beach were Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State and Marquette.  The Semi-Finals were held in Long Beach, CA at the United States Sailing Center.  Our team left on Tuesday and stayed with alumni in Long Beach, (Thank you to the Schweglers!) and practiced with the UCLA and Oregon teams on Friday.  Racing began on Saturday around 12 due to a wind delay and lasted until about 6:30.  On Sunday, races started around 10:30 after a short wind delay and lasted until bout 5:30.  Michigan took 15th in the event.

The Women's Qualifier was hosted by Northwestern over Easter Weekend.  The racing began early on Saturday and high winds allowed for fast and fun races.  There was a postponement due to high winds for about an hour but then the ladies went back out and finished the regatta in one day.  We took third place overall, just a couple points behind the first and second teams--Wisconsin and Minnesota.  The ladies will be sailing in Semi Finals in the Gorge, Oregon from May 23-26.

The Team Race Qualifier was held in Madison, Wisconsin this past weekend.  All racing took place on Saturday, as there was no wind on Sunday.  Michigan took fourth overall, trailing behind Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Northwestern.  We finished ahead of Ohio State and Notre Dame.

Big Ten Team Race 2011

This past weekend we hosted the annual Big Ten Team Race Regatta.  Teams in attendance included Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Minnesota.  Racing started at about 10:30 am on Saturday and continued until about 4:30, completing 17 of the 21 races.  Races began on Sunday at 9:30 and continued until noon, with a wind delay.  Overall, Michigan 1 (top picture) took an undefeated first place, winning all six races.  There was a three way tie for second between Michigan 2, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, who all won four of their six races.  After a tie-breaker, Wisconsin took second place and Michigan 2 took third, (bottom picture).

Floridians and Dawn Riley

Matt Graham (left) and Kirsten Corneliussen (middle) with America's Cup sailor Dawn Riley (right) at the North Star Sail Club "Saving Sailing" seminar.  Matt and Kirsten spoke on the panel with Dawn Riley to describe the efforts that college sailors take to promote sailing among younger age groups.  Matt Graham, Kirsten Corneliussen, David Oliver, Britt Wedenoja, Rachel Barch, and Ellen Dubois headed to Florida over spring break to not only get some pre-season sailing in, but to practice with the local high school teams and get them interested in college sailing.  The group made the front page of the local paper.  To view the article and photos, click here.  

Strictly Sail Chicago 2011

Kirsten Corneliussen and Britt Wedenoja man the Michigan Sailing Team booth at the Strictly Sail boat show in Chicago from January 24th-27th.  The executive board came on Thursday to promote the new merchandise and the rest of the team joined them on Friday.  In addition to selling tons of shirts, hats and burgees, the team attended various seminars about running a regatta, match racing, and running effective practices.

New Website!

The Michigan Sailing Team just got a new website!  Check back soon for results and pictures from our spring regattas and other events!