2024 Fall Season Regatta Reports
Fall Fury 9/7-9/8
On the weekend of September 7th and 8th, Wisconsin hosted the Fall Fury regatta, with 13 teams competing. Charlie Herrick ('26), Kerstin Hyer ('25), Seamus Hendrickson ('26), Adam Pickhardt ('27), Nigel Yu ('27), and Ryan Tatelbaum ('25) competed in the open berth. In the women's berth were Mary Castellini ('25), Paige Kurtenbach ('27), Marissa Tegeder ('25), Maddy Netzer ('26), and Sydney Mandell ('26). The conditions on Lake Mendota were fantastic. On the first day, winds from the north started at 12 knots but lowered to 5-7 knots throughout the day. Waves were persistent in the morning but lessened as the day went on. On the second day, the water was flat and winds from the west started light with 5 knots and built to 11 knots by the afternoon. The open berth got 1st place overall, and the women's berth got 2nd place overall! Big thanks to our regatta coordinators Carmen Lineer and Cater Harms for running a smooth regatta, our coach Ian Beckley for being a great PRO, and our judges Michael Lusty, Paul Murray, and Fields Gunsett. Go Go Wisco!
GLIOR 9/14-9/15
COED
On the weekend of September 14th and 15th, Seamus Hendrickson ('26), Cal Lutton ('26), David Tofer ('25), Ryan Tatelbaum ('25), Marley Barrett ('27), and Finn Tait ('25) opened up the Fall 2024 Keelboat season aboard J105 Kinship. The squad left Madison early Friday afternoon for a short drive to Chicago and got in some key practice time on the boat focusing in on the maneuvers that would help win the corners of the course. After a productive practice session the squad met up with the Women's birth, sailing aboard T10 Tango, for some burgers before heading back to team alumni Tina Dombrowski's home.
The conditions Saturday morning were light with a 5-7 knot westerly coming off the shore of Chigaco with significant shifts coming down the 2 nm W4 course. The light air challenged the teams maneuvers requiring expert control of the spinnaker through gybes and solid boat handling to keep boatspeed up. The Columbia Yacht Club Race Committee was able to get off four races. At the end of racing on Saturday the squad sat in second, 4 points behind the Naval Academy on board J105 Peregrine, and 1 point ahead of the University of Rhode Island on board J105 Powers of Two. After a solid day of racing, we enjoyed a regatta BBQ provided by Columbia Yacht Club. The team headed back to the house and prepared for moving day on Sunday.
Sunday saw testy conditions to start, with heavy rain and winds of 15 knots gusting 27 out of the Southeast. The race committee quickly got racing off under the E flag, indicating no spinnakers for the first race requiring teams to sail wing on wing downwind - similar to 420's and FJ's. The Badgers rounded the first upwind in first and displayed their ingenuity by bringing out the boat hook to use as a wisker pole, with other teams following suit. The badgers aboard Kinship got their first win of the regatta and pulled even with Navy going into what would be the final race of the regatta. Throughout the first race wind levels declined to under the 15 knot limit allowing Race Committee to lower the E flag and racing got underway once again. The Badgers put together a fantastic race with lead of the race flipping between the University of Chicago and the Badgers, all the way up to the finish line, with the Naval Academy finishing in 3rd behind the Badgers giving the team the lead of the regatta! Racing then went into postponement as wind levels dropped below 1 knot with the rain still coming down. The lack of wind and unrelenting rain didn't ruin the mood of all the competitors as, flybys of the picture boat and a few backflips prompted race committee to end racing for the regatta, confirming the Wisconsin Badgers aboard Kinship as champions of the GLIOR J105 Division!
After a great regatta everyone sailing this weekend for Wisconsin at GLIOR would like to give a big thank you to the Dombrowski's for letting us stay in their home for the weekend and a big thank you to the Lutton's for preparing Kinship and allowing us to race on it this weekend.
WOMEN’S
Sydney Mandell ('26), Dylan Gorman ('25), Carmen Lineer ('26), Erin McDonagh ('28), Maddy Netzer ('26), and Jackie Ruggeri ('27) spent the weekend competing in the heart of Chicago at Columbia Yacht Club. They had a fantastic time on the water together and improved a ton throughout the weekend. They competed in the Tartan 10 fleet with 7 other boats. The first day of the regatta was extremely light and variable. Despite the conditions, the fleet was able to complete four races. The second day was quite opposite the first, with a pouring rainstorm that did not end. The breeze in the first race was around 14 knots with gusts up to the high teens, and spinnakers were unfortunately not allowed. A second race was started, but abandoned due to a wind shift from the west to the south. Once the course was reset, the women competed in the last race of the event. We would like to say a huge thank you to Tina Dombrowski for hosting the team, as well as to Dylan Gorman, and others, for fighting to get a boat for us to sail. We also would like to thank Charlie Childs and Jonathan Thickens for sailing the boat with us! We learned a ton from this event and cannot wait for the rest of the season!
Sugar Bowl 9/21-9/22
Charlie Herrick ('26), Kerstin Hyer ('25), Penelope Whiteside ('28), Carter Harms ('27), Jenna Princing ('28) and William Styslinger ('28) travelled to New Orleans to race in the Allstate Sugar Bowl regatta hosted by Tulane University on Saturday, September 21st and Sunday the 22nd. The breeze on Saturday was up and down, with about a 10kn maximum and a 3kn minimum, with both divisions racing 420s. 8 races were sailed on Saturday, with Charlie and Kerstin racing in A division for the first 4 races before switching out with William and Jenna for the last 4 of the day. Penelope and Carter raced in B division for all 8 races on Saturday. The large fleet size brought some challenge to the racing and helped the team work on their starts, which proved to be very critical due to the consistent breeze direction and fleet size. On Sunday, the breeze was much more consistent, and with a higher velocity than the day before (about 10kn gusting to 12kn) . This time in FJs, the team had a lot of fun working on starts and boat speed throughout the 6 races that were held on Sunday. Charlie and Kerstin raced all 6, as did Penelope and Carter. The team ended up placing 7th overall, with the A division placing 6th and the B division placing 7th. The regatta was an excellent learning opportunity and provided us with some great practice racing against large fleets with varsity teams. The Wisconsin Sailing Team would like to thank Julianna and Dan Corderman for their hospitality during the regatta.
Cary Price 9/28-9/29
The weekend of 9/28-29, the Wisconsin Sailing Team traveled to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut to compete in the annual Danmark Trophy regatta. The competitors sailed in FJs and 420s. Jackie Ruggieri ('27) and Thomas Erickson ('24) competed in A fleet and Nigel Yu ('27) and Erin McDonagh ('28) competed in B fleet. Cal Lutton ('26) served as an alternate. Saturday brought light to moderate breeze, about 6-12 knots, from the east. The narrow width and steep banks of the Thames River made for some shifty conditions, but the Badgers showed their tactical acumen by putting together strong upwind beats consistently throughout the day. Sunday’s forecast never properly developed, and the strong current at the venue made competition impossible despite a somewhat steady 5 knot breeze throughout the morning. While the results might not show a great performance, the Wisconsin Sailors improved massively throughout the day on Saturday, especially on the start line. Overall, the Danmark Trophy event proved to be a great opportunity to identify areas of strength and aspects to improve. Special thanks to Tom Ruggieri and Julie Wilson for hosting the team at their New Haven home, and to Juliana Ruggieri for serving as a coach on Sunday.
Danmark Trophy 9/28-9/29
Mary Castellini ('25), Jenna Princing ('28), Marissa Tegeder ('25), Claire Poremba ('27), and Penelope Whiteside ('28) all competed this weekend in the Women’s ACCs Round 1B at Edgewood Yacht Club hosted by Brown University. We made the quick 17 hour drive to Rhode Island in only two parts, with a quick stop in a hotel on Thursday night. We arrived safely in Jamestown, Rhode Island mid afternoon on Friday. A special thank you to Julie Wilson and the Ruggieri family for hosting us in Jamestown, we really appreciated it!
The first day sailing on the Providence River, we had light wind out of the East. The wind was pretty shifty, so it made the racing really fun when we were able to predict dramatic wind changes on either side of the course. We got a full eight races in for both A and B fleet, with the A’s in FJs and the B’s in 420s. For the last race of the day, Mary and Jenna finished in 4th! After sailing, we went out for burgers in Providence and went to bed early, excited for the next day of racing.
The second day was forecasted to be very light wind, but when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised by the steady-ish wind. In the first two hours, each fleet got one set in after some general recalls and course changes slowed us down a bit compared to day one. A special highlight of the day was Marissa and Claire finishing in 4th for the last race of the regatta, officially breaking the B fleet tie with the Fordham Rams; the Honey Badgers really know how to finish strong! The wind continued to die throughout the day, and the regatta ended at 3:30 with no successful sets completed after the one earlier that morning. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day to practice sailing in light wind and be out on the water!
Once again, a huge thank you to Julie Wilson and the Ruggieri family for housing us this weekend. This regatta was a wonderful continuation of the Honey Badgers’ season, look out for us at the Women’s Atlantic Coast Tournament at St. Mary’s College on October 12th and 13th and at Wisco Women’s on October 19th and 20th. GO GO WISCO!