Over the Weekend of October 9th-10th, 7 Badgers headed to New Haven to compete in Co-Ed Acc. round 1B. With a slew of highly talented schools in attendance, the Regatta was one of the most competitive events of the season. Sailors were Christian Spencer 22’ and crew Ally Hansen 23’ in B division, with Samuel Bartel 22’ and Jonathan Bailey 22’ rotating as Skippers in A Division. Their crews were Lucas Quinn 22’ and Cristina Dombrowski 23’, respectively. Noah Hallerman 22’ was on deck, but winds remained light throughout the entire weekend. Winds ranged from around 5-12kts and were extremely shifty. Christian and Ally found a groove in B-Division and sailed to a 6th place finish. Wisco Sailors had 1st and 2nd place races in both divisions, proving their ability to sail at high level. Wisconsin finished just short of the top half, landing 11 out of 18. A huge shout out to Mr. Quinn for offering up his house for the weekend (and the next one as well)!
Hewitt Trophy (October 9th & 10th, 2021)
The weekend of October 9-10th, 5 badgers traveled to Brunswick, Maine to compete at Hewitt Trophy hosted by Bowdoin College. With light and shifty breeze both days along with strong currents, it created some though sailing conditions for our badgers. On Saturday the breeze was a consistent 6-10 knots and the race committee was able to fire off 10 races. When the badgers arrived on Sunday morning, they waited in postponement for about an hour until the breezed filled in to a constant 6 knots. They finished the last 4 races and then headed back to Madison. This weekend, three sailors competed in their first out east regatta including Jake Macdonald ’23 (A skipper), Will Davis ’23 (B skipper), and Mabel Sliney ’25 (B Crew), along side Sophie Lusty ’24 (A crew) and Elisabeth Johanson ’22 (A alternate). Overall, the Wisco team finished in 12th place, 11th in A division and 13th in B. Huge thanks to the Slineys for making the drive up to Maine and bringing us lots of snacks and to the Macdonalds for hosting us Friday night! Go Go Wisco!
Danmark Trophy (October 2nd & 3rd, 2021)
On October 2nd and 3rd Wisco Sailors rigged up and sailed the Danmark Trophy Regatta hosted by Coast Guard. Being the first regatta for a few of the sailors, they were excited to get out and on the water. Unfortunately, the wind was extremely light and sailors bobbed around waiting for the wind to fill in. Later in the day, the breeze picked up and it was an afternoon of light wind racing and tricky shifts. Despiste these conditions, Christain Spencer ’22 and Ally Hansen ’23 finished off the day with a best race of 4th in A division and Jonathan Bailey ’22 and Christina Dombrowski ’23 finished the day with 4 top 5 finishes in B division! Similar to Saturday, Sunday started off with minimal breeze. Around 12:30 pm, the wind filled in and competitors were once again able to get back on the water. Sunday’s breeze, around 3 - 8 knots, brought plenty of big shifts causing sailors to constantly be on their toes and adjusting their tactics. At the conclusion of the weekend, Wisconsin placed 15th out of 20 teams after sailing 12 races and gained a ton of new knowledge and motivation for the regattas to come. Big thanks to Coast Guard for hosting in less than ideal wind conditions and to heavy crew Noah Hallerman ’22 for all the support and positivity throughout the weekend!
Women's ACC Round 1B (October 2nd & 3rd, 2021)
Our Honey Badgers traveled to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA to compete in Women’s ACC Round 1. The A Division team Ella Reinemann ‘23 and Ellie Murphy ‘24 started the regatta with a bang, getting a 4th in a fleet of 17 FJs. In light (2-6 knots from the South) and shifty conditions, they continued to sail well, along with B Division Sophie Lusty ‘24 and Elisabeth Johanson ‘22 who finished day 1 with their best race result with a 7th place. Day 2 had stronger breeze around 6-10 knots sustained from the South again, and the Honey Badgers used it to their advantage, having a great finish to the regatta. At the end, our A Division sailors placed 14 out of 17 in their division, B Division placed 17 out of 17, which combined for a overall finish of 17 out of 17. Although the conditions were very tricky and the fleet was competitive, they progressed throughout the regatta, learned a lot, and are excited/hopeful for the next round of Women ACCs!
Pere Marquette (October 2nd & 3rd, 2021)
This weekend Wisconsin Sailors made the most of difficult light air conditions at Pere Marquette in Milwaukee. Two berths represented Wisconsin at the regatta. Wisconsin 1, sailed by Adam McAvoy (‘22) and George Lockwood (‘25) in A with Will Davis (‘23) and Ryan Tatelbaum (‘25) in B. Wisconsin 2 was sailed by Nicole Guiliani (‘24) and Magda Lulewicz (‘24) in A with Marissa Tegeder (‘25) and Catherine Gross (‘24) in B. Our heavy crews, Ivan Castañer (‘24) and Thomas Hadcock (‘24), proved unnecessary this weekend; however, they provided great support.
Saturday proved to be the better of the two days for sailing with a consistent 5-8 knots throughout the morning. Perfectly flat water made for some great conditions. An easily read course meant that fast upwind sailing allowed for large gains to be made on the beats. A fleet worked on the first rotation to get in the groove and after an okay first rotation came out swinging in the second set with 1st place finishes for both Nicole Guiliani and Adam McAvoy. B fleet wasted no time with Will Davis and Marissa Tegeder putting up 1, 2 finishes across the board on Day 1. After the second set, the wind shifted and died to the sea breeze direction, eventually filling to a consistent 8 knots. However, racing was unfortunately cancelled for the rest of the day after the second set.
Sunday began with a land delay until 11am when a light sea breeze filled to a base velocity of 4 knots, occasionally reaching 5 knots. 2 Races were sailed today. The key today was punching out off the line and sailing to the patches of pressure. A fleet had a good first race with Nicole Guiliani putting down a 1st place finish by a large margin and George Lockwood making up ground after a poor start for a third place finish. Race 2 proved challenging after contact on the line for both boats. Nicole and George finished 5 and 4 respectively. B fleet continued their streak of consistent 1,2 finishes other than one third place for Marissa.
The Badgers ended up taking the top two spots with Wisconsin 1 in 1st and Wisconsin 2 in 2nd place. Many thanks to Marquette University for hosting the regatta, our housing hosts: Koz (Drew Kosmoski) and Etain, and the Hadcock family for graciously inviting us to their house for dinner on Saturday night.
Cary Price (October 2nd & 3rd, 2021)
With so many regattas this weekend and many Badger sailors traveling across the nation, Wisconsin sent a small, yet strong, team of four to compete at Cary Price in Michigan. The team consisted of skipper Jake Macdonald (‘23) and crew Dylan Gorman (‘25) in A as well as skipper Jack Schweda (‘24) and crew Kerstin Hyer (‘25) in B. Our team expected to find light and shifty conditions on the very small Baseline Lake and we were correct in our prediction.
Saturday morning was postponed as we waited for the wind to fill in. After lunch we were finally able to launch boats and get off our first races. Even with less than 5 knots of wind, Jake Macdonald was able to get off to a great start and win race one. He followed that race up with a 3 and that left him tied for first in A with Michigan. The shifty conditions forced the race committee to move the course for the B races. Jack Schweda was able to take advantage of great starts and managed to stay ahead of most of the competition, even with the unexplainable puffs, to get a 2, 3 in his first set. With rain getting nearer and wind getting lighter, the race committee sent the A sailors back out for one more race on the day. Jake and Dylan’s good start and saucy roll tacks allowed them to get out to an early lead and they never looked back (except on the downwind legs of course). They were able to get the 1 and take sole lead in A.
When our team showed up on Sunday morning, we saw glass on the lake. After some on-land postponement, the race committee sent out the B sailors in no wind to attempt to finish the set to constitute the regatta. The wind was extremely minimal but the short course and fair wind direction allowed the race committee to start the race. Jack and Kerstin had another great start and used their roll tacks to position themselves wonderfully for the puffs that would come down the lake. They got out to an early lead and continued to frequently roll tack and gybe to get to the puffs and stay ahead of their competition. They were able to finish with a 1 and take the sole lead of the B division.
The Badgers were able to sweep the regatta by finishing first in A, B, and overall. Thank you to the University of Michigan for running a great regatta in less than ideal conditions, and to our host Mary Johanson for the tasty meals and gracious hospitality!
GLIOR (September 25th & 26th, 2021)
Honey badgers had a great time racing at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta out Columbia Yacht Club. We were lucky enough to sail on Julie Means’ T-10, Tango, for the 3rd time. We finished 4th overall out of 12 teams after 8 races. On Saturday, we raced 5 races in conditions ranging from 10-20 knots coming from the city which created some shifty conditions. On Sunday, we had 3 races with a southwest breeze of around 15, gusting to 22 knots. The crew included a strong group of women, including Skipper Nicole Giuliani (‘24), Main Trimmer Kate Higgins (‘22), Jib and Spinnaker Trimmers Kate Thickens (‘23) and Tina Dombrowski (‘23), Mary Daniels (‘24) on the Bow, and Ellie Murphy (‘24) in the Pit. We were joined by some great Wisconsin Alumni on the boat this weekend also, including Charlie Childs and Jonathan Thickens (‘19) on Saturday and then Charlie again along with Whitney Kent (‘16). The majority of our crew had little to no keelboat experience, so we are proud to have brought more women into the big boat world, while having lots of fun along the way.
Wisconsin’s Co-Ed team had a great weekend on Branwell’s J105. We put up a strong showing against Navy, Coast Guard , UC San Diego and URI, with one or two points separating the fleet. The crew included Skipper Tye Rubin (‘22), Noah Hallerman (‘22) trimming main, Adam McAvoy (‘22) trimming spin and jib, Ryan Tatelbaum (‘25) in the pit, Connor Wacker (‘23) at the mast and Ben Weinstein (‘23)on the foredeck. This roster was new to J105s and had not sailed together before this weekend, so we were very happy with how quickly our boat handling came together.
MCSA Sloop Championship (September 18th & 19th, 2021)
The 2021 MCSA Sloop championship was a regatta like no other. Austin Suvari (23’), Ivan Castañer (‘24), Lucas Quinn (‘22), and Catherine Gross (‘24) all ventured out to Detroit Michigan to participate in what they thought was a keelboat regatta. To their pleasant surprise the night before the SI’s were updated. They were informed that they would be sailing in a 4 boat club 420 fleet on the Detroit river. The conditions for this one day regatta were light and shifty. Testing the full ability of both our skippers Austin and Lucas. These light winds paired with the extremely strong current of the Detroit river only allowed for the A and B fleet to get off 3 races each before the day, and the regatta, was officially called. After a valiant effort our badgers finished 2nd place in the fleet.
MCSA Singlehanded Championship (September 18th & 19th, 2021)
2021’s Singlehanded Championship got off to a good start, with consistent but moderate breeze. It eventually tapered off, resulting in postponement after the 5th race. Sunday’s conditions remained light, with dramatic shifts, but the fleet still managed to get 4 races in before the end of the day. Jake MacDonald (‘23) and Ben Weinstein (‘23) represented Wisco in a competitive fleet. Jake was involved in a 3-way tiebreaker to settle second place, and many finishes were decided by one or two boat lengths. With 8 Lasers out on the water, this was a very successful event and bodes well for Wisco’s future success in the MCSA singlehanded fleet.
Fall Fury (September 11th & 12th, 2021)
Both the Co-Ed and Women’s team had a great start to the fall semester at the Fall Fury which was held on September 11th and 12th. It was great to finally be back to regattas and we were even luckier that it was a home regatta to start the season. The home regatta provided a unique opportunity for sailors to compete and attend a home football game on Saturday evening. The weekend was incredibly successful for Wisco Sailing. The co-ed team won overall, the women’s team was second, and Wisconsin was first and second in both A and B division. On the winning Co-Ed team was Christian Spencer (‘22), Ally Hansen (‘23), and Ben Weinstein (‘23) in A division, and Samuel Bartel (‘22), Lucas Quinn (‘22), and Noah Hallerman (‘22) in B Division. The Women’s team was Ella Reinemann (‘23) and Cristina Dombrowski (‘23) in A Division, and Hailey Feinzig (‘22) and Kate Thickens (‘23) in B Division with Kate Higgins (‘22) as alternate.
Saturday provided tricky southerly conditions in light breeze that was between 4-9 knots. We think that the local knowledge helped Wisconsin sailors to have a strong day, but it was difficult for everyone. Sunday had steadier conditions out of the north with 5-12 knots and great breeze for the last set. As the host team, we are thankful for all of our teammates who helped to run a great home event, PRO Scott Corder, and all of the teams that came to Madison to compete in college sailing again. We are happy with how hard our team worked during the past season without regattas and we are excited for the rest of this season!
