Big Ten Team Race at University of Michigan on Base Line Lake

The google maps time for getting to Michigan is 11 hours and with 7 of us all packed into one van, it was a cozy road trip.  We were all thinking of the impending shiftiness of Base Line Lake and trying to sort out all the different team race plays (along with playing  car games and chatting to pass the time).  We made it in 10 hours and were able to get together with our friends from all the other teams before we started racing on Saturday.

When Saturday rolled around the wind was about 5-8 and the morning saw some good racing.  Natalie Sinn, Sarah Ellis, Jessie Olson, Ethan Fryer-Ressmeyer, Chris Loew-Blosser, Allison Forbes and Kirstin Wilson comprised the team that we sent to this event.  We went out for our first two races and finished with a 1,2 over Michigan’s B team and Purdue.  After that, the fun started.  The wind died and during our race against Notre Dame, we floated upwind for almost the entire downwind leg and due to some really weird wind shifts and awkward situations we lost to Northwestern 1 and ND.  In between races wasn’t bad, sitting next to the campfire and catching up with every body so, when they finally called racing, we were ready to go home and shower!

Sunday also saw light winds but we were able to get some races off anyways.  With a 3-3 record, we made it into the final 4 round-robin as the 4th place team.  We had to sail agains 1st which was Michigan 1 and lost which ended the event for us.  We ended up in 4th with Northwestern 1, ND, and Michigan 1 ahead of us.  It was good experience and really awesome that we were able to get so many people not used to team racing to this event.  Things like these are continuing to deepen our team and helps everyone learn new ways of sailing (not to mention have a lot of fun!).

Robert Morris Invitational at Columbia Yacht Club on Lake Michigan

This weekend declared the start of our Spring 2012 Season!  We were very excited to be on the road again after just a week home after our spring break trip in Florida (a more detailed recap of that trip to come)! We sent 8 sailors, competing on 2 teams, to the event in Chicago.

University of Minnesota Gophers 1 consisted of Natalie Sinn and Sarah Ellis in the A division with Ryan Grosch and Paige Boegeman sailing in the B division.  The second team had an A boat composed of Emily Oltrogge with crews Allison Forbes and Aaron Martinson and a B boat consisting of skippers Kirstin Wilson and Jessie Olson.  Jessie also functioned as a crew along with Ethan Fryer-Ressmeyer.

The A division saw some pretty stiff competition in Michigan and UW-Madison along with other teams such as Purdue, Notre Dame, and UIC (Illinois-Chicago).  Taking 3 bullets over the course of the racing, Natalie and Sarah finished in 3rd in A’s, just one point behind UW-Madison.  The second boat finished in 9th in the A division.  (That’s what I call female domination… Women’s Nationals… WATCH OUT!)  In B’s Ryan and Paige got a rough break after being illegally protested by the Race Committee but not  being granted a dropped protest, they moved from being placed 2nd in B’s to 4th (which was completely undeserved proved by their 3 firsts over the throughout the refatta!).  The second boat finished in 6th in their division.

Overall, our teams ended up in 3rd and 7th.  It was a great first event and we all had a lot of fun!  We’re looking forward to bigger and better events and, since the ice is out and we’re already able to practice, a lot of improvement!  I will attach a link for those of you interested in seeing full scores from the event!

 

Thanks

http://scores.collegesailing.info/s12/robert-morris-invitational/full-scores

Upcoming Events

Our upcoming events link has been updated so check out what we have planned for the season!!

Midwinters at Navy Pier and Chicago Yacht Club

So… Our team basically rocked the midwinters banquet this year!  We had 6  sailors win All-Conference Awards!

All-Conference Skipper Honorable Mention: Women’s Skipper- Emily Oltrogge

All-Conference Skipper: Women’s Skipper- Natalie Sinn and Allison Prange

All-Conference Skipper Honorable Mention- Ryan Grosch

All-Conference Crew Honorable Mention: Emma Gantzer

All-Conference Crew: Kirstin Wilson and Sarah Ellis

Also, Sarah Ellis ran unopposed for Vice Commodore of the MCSA.  The weekend was a lot of fun and we did a good job at getting our name out there.  It’s amazing how surprised people are to hear that Minnesota actually has a sailing team.  Hopefully, we can continue to grow and be successful so that this will soon be common knowledge.  Knowledge, of course, that we’re the best!!  Thanks for all your support! We now turn our focus to Tulane in New Orleans, LA where we will be spending our spring break training for the upcoming spring season.

Wish us luck!

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Strictly Sail at Navy Pier in Chicago

Hey Everybody!

We’re off to the start of a new semester and, in terms of sailing, we have our first event this weekend.  We have a booth at the Strictly Sail boat show in Chicago on Navy Pier.  So, if you’re in the area, stop by!  There’s a lot of cool stuff–boats, companies, chances to win stuff.  We’re selling coozies and t-shirts and we’re looking for people to stop by and just say hello!  Also, this show signifies the MCSA annual conference.  We have meetings and seminars all weekend and we’re very excited to see the other teams and learn new ideas.  There will also be a banquet on Saturday night at which they announce all-conference awards and we will be sure to keep you posted!

In hopes of a continued, mild winter,

Sarah

P.S. hours for the boat show are 11-8 on Fri. 10-7 on Sat. and 10-5 on Sun.  Hope to see everyone’s smiling faces soon!!

Congratulations to the new board members!

Commodore: Ethan Fryer-Ressmeyer

Vice Commodore: Sarah Ellis

Travel Coordinator: Lauren Rieves

Treasurer: Charlie Faust

Safetys and Tier Coordinator: Emily Oltrogge

Recruitment Chair: Brianna Chu

Regatta and Apparel Chairs: Drake Lundeen and Paige Boegeman

Timme Angsten Regatta at Chicago Yacht Club on Lake Michigan

This weekend signaled an end to the Fall of 2011 season.  The Timme Angsten Regatta is the equivalent to the MCSA Championships.  We sent 6 sailors and coach, Allison Prange to the event and really showed off what we were made of!  The ended up with a second place finish overall

Natalie Sinn and Sarah Ellis sailed in the A division.  They started off the day with a 1, 2 and continued to keep up the good results.  The wind was blowing good with readings from anywhere from 10-30 miles per hour.  They got so high that at one point, on Saturday, they had to call racing to wait for the speeds to drop.  It was a lot of fun to go out in those conditions, though.  Especially since the sun was shining and the weather was perfect.  Sunday was a little lighter with winds between 10 and 20 but the girls kicked some major hiney on this day as well.  They finished off with three bullets and finished 2nd in A’s just a few points behind Wisco.

In B’s, Ryan Grosch and Paige Boegeman also performed very well.  They got almost all top 3 finishes and their own fair share of bullets as well.  They also finished second in their division and proved we were a force to be reckoned with.  Overall, the team had a lot of fun and the Yacht Club hosted an awesome event (“Butterball” included).  It was good experience and we can’t wait for our upcoming spring season!!  

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on who has been elected to the board for the upcoming seasons and everything that’s going on event-wise!  And, finally, keep your eyes peeled for our annual donation letters being sent out!  Everything helps and we’re really looking forward to advancing our team: personally along with in the MCSA and ICSA.

Thanks for reading!  

Timmies Tune-Up at Northwestern University on Lake Michigan

This weekend, we sent 6 sailors to Evanston, right outside of Chicago to participate in the Timmies Tune-Up regatta also known as Blow Harder–and that’s what it did.  The wind was at a constant 15-20 all day on Saturday and each division (A and B) got 8 races off.  Sunday was supposed to blow 25 with gusts over 40.  With that said, they called racing after Saturday’s races.  Natalie Sinn and Sarah Ellis, sailing in the A division, saw some strong competition.  They got off to a good start with two 2nd place finishes and continued to stay consistent with finishes between 4-7.  They ended up finishing 5th in their division which is great looking at who they were up against.

Ryan Grosch and Paige Boegeman sailed in the B division and really kicked some beeehind!  They got all top 5 finishes along with 5 bullets (first places).  They sailed against good competition as well and had a lot of fun doing so.  Overall, our team took first by 2 points over UW-Madison and Northwestern.  It was a great experience, some really hard work, and a lot of fun for everyone!

Wisco Team Race at UW-Madison on Lake Mendota

This past weekend, we sent 7 sailors to a team racing regatta on Lake Mendota.  Starting off, our team was put in a bracket with both Madison teams, Northwestern, Michigan, and Marquette.  With 3 of our boats versus 3 of theirs, we started off with a strong race against Marquette finishing with the strongest combination of a one, two, three.  Sailing together were Ryan Grosch and Jessie Olson/Sarah Ellis, Emily Oltrogge and Paige Boegeman, and Drake Lundeen and Aaron Martinson.  With that being said, our bracket had the most difficult teams in it and ended up in 4th.  The regatta then proceeded into a second rotation in which we did very well although not continuing on to the final 4 rotation that was to take place on Sunday.

This gave us the opportunity to drive home on Saturday night putting us back on the Minnesota campus around 11:30.  We had a lot of fun and got a lot of good sailing in.  We’re looking forward to Timmies Tune-Up and the Timmies-Angten regattas the following two weekends in Chicago!!

Also, a quick update about the sailors that went to the Single-hand Nationals Regatta at Chicago Yacht Club this past weekend:  The wind was anywhere between 3 knots with large waves on Friday and 25 knots with gusts into the low 30′s on Sunday.  They got a solid 15 races off and obviously had a lot of really good competition.  Our sailors, Natalie Sinn and Harrison Burton, had a lot of fun and gained some really good experience.  Good job, you guys!!

Good Luck to Natalie Sinn and Harrison Burton!

This upcoming weekend is single-hand NATIONALS at Chicago Yacht Club on Lake Michigan. Because our team is awesome, we are sending two sailors to this renowned event. Only 3 girls and 3 boys from our conference qualify so this is a big deal!
Natalie Sinn is a senior who has been on the team all four of her years here! She started sailing while attending Minnetonka High School and now works for Wayzata Sailing School teaching kids how to sail during the summer!
Harrison Burton, a sophomore who is only on his second semester with the team has been sailing his whole life. He coached the opti advanced class over at Lake Minnetonka Sailing School for the past couple of years.
Both of these sailors rock so… if you happen to see them or have their phone numbers, send them a text or give them a little shout out. We’re all very proud of all the work they have put in and can’t wait to see them to compete this weekend!

GOOD LUCK YOU GUYS!