Essington, PA- The Washington College Sailing Team competed in the Philly Fleet Race, placing fifth out of nine teams. Sailing concluded after one day as a Nor'easter rolled in across the east coast.
Philly Fleet Race
The weather through down a challenge for the return of the Philly Fleet Race at Drexel this weekend with a Nor'easter threatening to shutdown the regatta before it started. Constantly shifting forecasts meant constantly shifting evaluations of the sailing conditions, but by the night before the forecast for the venue held winds in the low teens, not 20 knots plus as had previously threatened.
The morning of the event, there was one remaining squall line from the overnight rain we held a 90 minute postponement for to be safe. It was more of a downpour than a gusty squall as it passed, proving conditions would be ok for sailing. Once the course was set and racing commenced sailors experienced winds out of the North starting out at 15 kts and ramping down to under 10 as the day went on. We tucked the course into the lee of the land a bit to keep a little bit of a wind break, at the expense of the top of the course being a bit shifty. The fleet experienced occasional gusts, mostly below 20 kts. The Northerly direction made for some cross course current problems for sailors to solve in the Delaware's tidal shifts.
Three Full rotations were completed as we pressed on later into the day taking advantage of the sailing conditions. A good time and a few capsizes were had, once breakdown was filed by Princeton and awarded. One protest was also heard, which resulted with no penalty.
Washington College Sailing completed six races. Division A totaled 23 points with a best finish of second place in the last race. Division B left the race with 33 total points, and three fourth place finishes. Alex Salzberg and Nora Ciak served as skippers for Divisions A and B respectfully. With Soledad Fintel, Ethan Rower, and Olivia Hall filling in as crew.
Up Next
The Shoremen and Shorewomen will head to the Bronx, NY to compete in the Jesuit Open Regatta on October 3rd and 4th.
