NEWS & REGATTAS
Regatta Report: Admiral Moore Team Race
Sailors
Skippers: Crews:
August Sturm ('20) Amy Baer ('19)
Austin Haag ('20) Sofia Gambini ('18)
Mason Wolters ('18) Mike Gapuz ('18)
Summary
We sent six sailors to New York this weekend to compete at the Admiral Moore Team Race Regatta. The team got a lot of good team racing practice in, as they kept up with each team at the event.
On Saturday, one round robin was completed, as the wind died throughout the day from 15 knots to nearly 0 knots. We had a race thrown out due to no wind while we were on the second upwind of the race. Overall, we had pretty successful Saturday of sailing.
Saturday evening, our sailors went into New York City to watch the Michigan Basketball game! To celebrate the big win, we roamed around Time's Square and explored New York City, making a new friend (pictured to the left)!
Sunday brought heavier winds and stronger current as we finished out the second round robin and ending the regatta. We are looking forward to using the experience to practice our team racing before Team Race Quals in April.
We are so thankful to our hosts for giving our sailors a place to sleep and feeding them while we competed at this event.
Written by S. Gambini ('18)
March's Michigan Sailor of the Month
Introducing our March Sailor of the Month, Amy Baer!
Amy is a junior studying Computer Science and one of co-captains. She is a top crew and has represented our team at both dinghy and keelboat events. She qualified for Women's Nationals, placed 1st at GLIOR, and was recognized as an MCSA all-conference crew. She has served as an integral member of our team for the past three years, propelling the team to success in a multitude of events across the country.
In addition to her sailing experience, Amy is an admirable leader on the team, serving as the Rec Sports Chair last year and a co-captain this year. She handles many of the team’s operations behind the scenes, and, without her, our team would not be able to function. Her hard work, dedication, and positive attitude makes her a role model for everyone on the team. Thank you for all you do, Amy!
Written by S. Gambini '18
Regatta Report: Southern New England Team Race
Sailors
Skippers: Crews:
Colton Gerber ('18) Sydney Thompson ('18)
Connor Goulet ('21) Lane Tobin ('18)
August Sturm ('20) Amy Baer ('19)
Summary
We sent six sailors over to Connecticut College this weekend to race in the Southern New England Team Race regatta. Over the course of two days, the team completed two round robins in fairly cold conditions and variable wind. We managed to get some good racing in as we look to practice our team racing! What a fun way to spend St. Patrick's Day weekend on the East Coast!
Written by S. Gambini ('18)
Regatta Report: Charleston Spring
Sailors
- A Fleet:
- Skipper - Mason Wolters ('18)
- Crew - Mike Gapuz ('18)
- B Fleet:
- Skipper - August Sturm ('20)
- Crew - Sofia Gambini ('18)
Summary
We sent four sailors to compete at Charleston Spring hosted by College of Charleston. We only ended up sailing on Saturday due to poor wind conditions on Sunday. On Saturday, the wind built throughout the day from 5 knots up to 18 knots, with gusts up to 20 knots. The current was not a huge factor on Saturday, which was pretty surprising for the Charleston venue.
Our A fleet sailed 10 races in 420s, while our B fleet sailed 10 races in FJs.
Overall our team finished 7th, with a 4th place finish for our B team after USF filed and got approved for redress, pushing us out of 3rd. Both teams felt like the regatta gave them a chance to get back in a boat and race in heavy wind. We are looking forward to competing more on the East Coast this spring and honing our skills as a team.
Thank you to Charleston for hosting the regatta and to our generous Michigan Alum for hosting our four sailors at his home while we competed this weekend.
Mason & Mike - A Series
Written by S. Gambini ('18)
Our New Website!
The Michigan Sailing Team is very excited for the launch of our brand new website!
The Michigan Sailing Team is very excited for the launch of our brand new website!
We've been working hard to bring our dedicated alumni, potential recruits, and current team members a new means of comminucation and information about the team.
While we have many ideas for where we hope to take this site, here is a list of a few key features:
- Updated leadership, roster, and coaches pages
- Simpler ways to contact our team
- A beautiful gallery of photos
- Information for our parents
- A list of our upcoming regattas
- Information for our alumni
- An outline on how to donate to our organization
- Event information for our Alumni Regatta and Michigan Sailing Victors Cup
- Up-to-date news and social media pages
- Information about our practices and fleet
- And more!
We hope that you take time to explore the site and reach out if you have any suggestions!
Written by S. Gambini '18
Spring Break Training Trip
The Michigan Sailing Team traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida for spring training.
The week of February 24, 2018, the Michigan Sailing Team traveled to St. Petersburg, Florida for spring training. The first weekend was spent at the University of South Florida for the Mendelblatt Team Race Regatta. Eight sailors competed against teams from across the country to develop team racing skills. The following week, the team spent eight hours a day sailing at Eckerd College to train for the season ahead.
The first few days of training included intense boat handling and crew development practice. Our coach, Sean Ross, created a regimented practice schedule and emphasized skills necessary to make our team as competitive as possible. Members new to the team were able to learn to sail, while experienced sailors honed in on boat handling skills that needed improvement.
Throughout the week, we fleet and team raced against the Eckerd Sailing Team. Also, we had the opportunity to send sailors to the University of South Florida to further practice team racing. Training with Eckerd and USF was a great opportunity to learn from and race against other great sailors. Our team members were able to learn new tactics, improve starts, and compare boat speed.
Every night, the team went back to a beach house on St. Pete Beach to cook dinner and relax with team mates. Being a block away from the beach, we would watch the sunset as a team and spend time by the ocean. Overall, the team had a very productive trip, as we vastly improved our sailing skills and had a ton of fun together!
Written by S. Youtt '21
Regatta Report: Mendelblatt Team Race
Sailors
Skippers: Crews:
Connor Goulet ('21) Claire Foley ('20)
Austin Haag ('20) Sofia Gambini ('18)
Will Neubauer ('20) Sarah Silvestri ('19)
August Sturm ('20) Sarah Youtt ('21)
Summary
We sent eight sailors to the University of South Florida for the Mendelblatt Team Race regatta to kick off a new year of sailing. It was a great opportunity for sailors to shake off the winter rust while team racing against some of best teams around the country. With a young team and a new skipper, we were able to practice our team race skills and kick-start our spring break.
The sailors were excited for some action-packed sailing and even more so for the warm and sunny weather in St. Petersburg. On the first day of racing, the wind was consistent until early in the afternoon when it died out. The team took a lunch break for about an hour and then returned to finish the round of racing.
The second day of sailing consisted of a little southeasterly breeze, but, by the end of the day, the wind had picked up to the point where we were hiking hard on the upwind legs.
Being the first regatta before spring break, we were able to identify what skills we need to practice during our training trip. We sailed in 420s the whole weekend except for the last three races - something we aren’t used to but we appreciated the opportunity to practice team racing in them!
We are looking forward to a week of training here in Florida!
Written by M. Carroll ('21) & S. Youtt ('21)
February's Michigan Sailor of the Month
We are excited to introduce our Michigan Sailor of the Month, Nate Kane!
We are excited to introduce our Michigan Sailor of the Month, Nate Kane!
Nate is a junior studying Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering here at the University of Michigan! Nate has held a variety of leadership positions both on the executive board and off during his time with the team. His most notable leadership role is waking up all of our sailors at regattas so we can make it to race on time! We can always count on you, Nate!
Written by S. Gambini '18
Michigan Sailors Recognized at MCSA Midwinters
After a weekend full of regatta selection, leadership training, MCSA elections, and award ceremonies, Michigan Sailing has a lot of updates!
Connor, Austin, Amy, and Brian at MCSA Midwinters
After a weekend full of regatta selection, leadership training, MCSA elections, and award ceremonies, Michigan Sailing has a lot of updates!
We sent Amy Baer (Co-Captain), Austin Haag (Co-Captain), and Connor Goulet (Sailing Development Chair) to represent our team at MCSA Midwinters! Here is an outline of all we accomplished this past weekend!
First, huge congratulations to four of our Michigan Sailors who were recognized as All-Conference Sailors in the MCSA!
Amy Baer - Crew
Michael Gapuz - Crew
Lane Tobin - Skipper
Mason Wolters - Skipper
Second, another congratulation to our very own Co-Captain, Austin Haag, who was elected Commodore of the MCSA this weekend. Austin has already served one term on the MCSA board, and will continue to be an important voice for Michigan Sailing in his new role!
Michigan was also recognized as Match Race Champions and was awarded for Best Regatta for 2017 Women's Qualifiers.
Finally, we have our Spring Regatta Schedule lined up! Here is where we will be competing the next few months!
Austin and Amy with the "Best Regatta" Award
- 2/24 - 2/25 Mendelblatt Team Race - USF
- 3/10 - 3/11 Charleston Spring - College of Charleston
- 3/16 - 3/17 Southern New England Team Race - Conn College
- 3/24 - 3/25 Admiral Moore Team Race - New York
- 3/24 - 3/25 Freshman Icebreaker - Notre Dame
- 3/31 - 4/1 Laker Showdown - GVSU/Hope
- 3/31 - 4/1 Oxford Team Race - Miami of Ohio
- 4/7 - 4/8 Buckeye Invitational - OSU
- 4/7 - 4/8 Big Ten Team Race Regatta - MICH
- 4/14 - 4/15 3 Division Regatta - Wisco
- 4/14 - 4/15 Women's Quals - MICH
- 4/21 - 4/22 Admiral's Cup - King's Point
- 4/21 - 4/22 Boston Dinghy Challenge - Harvard/MIT
- 4/21 - 4/22 Team Race Qualifiers - Wisco
- 4/28 - 4/29 Co-ed Qualifiers - Minnesota
- 5/5 - 5/6 NU Spring - Northwestern
Written by S. Gambini '18
Michigan Sailors Spend New Years in NOLA
Michigan Sailing sent eight sailors down to New Orleans, LA for Tulane's Sugar Bowl Regatta.
Sailors:
Women's Team
- A Fleet:
- Skipper - Lane Tobin ('18)
- Crew - Sydney Thompson ('18)
- B Fleet:
- Skipper - Hannah Thayer ('20)
- Crew - Sofia Gambini ('18)
Coed Team
- A Fleet:
- Skipper - Colton Gerber ('18)
- Crew - Pat Ryan ('19)
- B Fleet:
- Skipper - Graham Eger ('19)
- Crew - Max Ellsworth ('21)
Michigan Sailing sent eight sailors down to New Orleans, LA for Tulane's Sugar Bowl Regatta. Taking place the weekend before New Years, our sailors enjoyed spending time in NOLA exploring the city, and sailing of course!
Our Women's Team consisted of seniors Lane Tobin, Sydney Thompson, Sofia Gambini, and sophomore, Hannah Thayer. Lane and Sydney finished 2nd in the A Fleet, and Hannah and Sofia finished 1st in B fleet, taking home the 2nd place in the Women's Division.
Hannah and Sofia were awarded for their 1st place finish in the B fleet with Low Point B Skipper and Low Point B Crew respectively.
Our Co-ed Team was made up of senior Colton Gerber, junior Graham Eger, sophomore Patrick Ryan, and freshman Max Ellsworth. Colton and Patrick sailed in the A fleet, and Graham and Max sailed in the B fleet.
Overall a wonderful regatta, and an exciting way to ring in a new year of sailing!
Written by S. Gambini ('18)