We're Getting New Boats!

SUNY Maritime Team Race Regatta

Six team members travelled to the east coast once again for another team race regatta last weekend! Alex Ramos, Thomas Etheridge, Chris Cyr, Mike Gapuz, Lane Tobin, and Sarah Sloan arrived at the Danilek's home in Stamford, CT shortly before 10 PM Friday night (a record-breaking arrival time for an intercollegiate regatta).  They were treated to pizza and stories from Mr. and Mrs. Danilek's time on the team before going to bed to prepare for a full day of racing.

After a quit stop at the Shop Rite before leaving Stamford, the team arrived at SUNY Maritime shortly before 9 AM and rigged their boats under cloudy skies.  The wind was blowing and the temperature stayed upsettingly close to freezing all of Saturday with a constant stream of falling snow, but an entire round robin was completed as well as the first three flights of a second.  The team returned to Stamford cold and exhausted, but were greeted with lasagna straight from the oven and everyone rejoiced. (Except for Lane, who went home with her parents to Richfield. Poor Lane, we hope she had a good time anyways.)

Ten hours of sleep later, the team awoke to even colder temperatures and snow on the ground Sunday. But the Weather Gods were smiling down upon us and the sun was shining at SUNY.  Six flights were sailed to finish the second round robin, the most exciting of which occurred between Michigan and UC Santa Barbara.  Immediately before the start, the wind died almost completely. The current was working against us and thankfully Alex Ramos had enough foresight to maintain full speed the entire starting sequence, and crossed the starting line 15 seconds before the other five boats.  The rest of the race was a thrilling combination of a spaced out fleet, missing marks, sailing upwind to reach marks, and quoting Awesome Aussie Skiffs to pass the time downwind. Michigan got the 1 and 2, but the real winner of the race was Ian from UCSB for getting a red flag for paddling around the upwind mark.

Overall it was a successful weekend and we made it back to Ann Arbor before midnight.

Thanks to the Danileks and SUNY Maritime for hosting!

New Shirts are Here!

We're excited to introduce our newest t-shirt design! Perfect for game day and every day in between, this shirt is sure to be a classic.

Visit our apparel page for ordering details!

We See Open Water!

Boat-In was yesterday afternoon, and it's looking like we'll be sailing by next week! The ice was too thin to stand on according to the team's official ice thickness tester and resident lake expert, and there was open water near the shore and across the lake. Team members moved 420s from the racks and stepped masts in preparation for practice and the Big 10 Team Race which we'll be hosting in two weeks.
We're excited to see what the spring has in store!

Southern New England Team Race

Chris Cyr, Thomas Etheridge, Alex Ramos, Mike Gapuz, Sydney Thompson, Emily Gazall, and Sarah Sloan drove to New London, CT last weekend for the Southern New England Team Race regatta. They arrived at their host's, the Lucentes, in Rhode Island shortly before midnight Friday. Racing was delayed until 2PM Saturday due to a ferocious snow storm, but the weather shifted 180 degrees and by 3 PM the sun was out, the snow was melting, and boats were in the water. 

The team sailed four races Saturday afternoon against Connecticut College, the Coast Guard Academy, Yale, and St. Mary's. They lost the first three races but improved each time, and beat St. Mary's in the last race of the day. 

The regatta was called on Sunday due to cold temperatures and strong winds, and the team left Connecticut at 11 AM, making it back to Ann Arbor around 11:30 PM. 

Thanks to Conn College for hosting the regatta, the Lucentes for providing us with beds and meals, and Mike Gapuz for a never-ending stream of facts to keep the car ride interesting. 

Freshman Icebreaker Regatta

Our lovely freshman visited Notre Dame last weekend to sail in the infamous Freshman Icebreaker Regatta with other first-year sailors from across the MCSA. The regatta was a success, with the freshman taking third overall, and many friends were made. 

Hitting the Slopes

Not everyone on the team went south for Spring Break; five of our team members headed west to hit the slopes one last time before summer!
Pictured below: James Hewitt, Nick Lipinski, Zach Nerod, Cooper DePriest (Not pictured: Mitch Kimball)

Spring Break Success

The team returned from St. Petersburg, FL last weekend after spending at week at the University of South Florida's facilities to train. After placing 5th at the Frank Mendelblatt Team Race Regatta at USF at the beginning of the trip, the team was ready to keep sailing in the sunshine and work on boat handling team racing tactics.
The team was on the water from 9-5 Monday through Friday.  They focused on working on boat handling skills the first two days, and switched to racing mode for the second half of the week.  The sun was shining and temperatures broke 70 degrees every day, and all team members were devastated to return home to cold weather and frozen lakes at the end of the week.
Thank you to the Knoles family, USF, and our coach Andrew!
Head over to our Facebook page to see pictures from the trip!