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!
GLIOR
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.
Fall Fury (September 7th & September 8th, 2019)
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!
Admirals Cup (April 21st & 22nd, 2019)
On Thursday afternoon, five sailors departed Madison and began their long road trip to Long Island, New York to compete in the 2019 Admiral’s Cup at the United State Merchant Marine Academy. Charlie Kutschenreuter (’19), Olivia Staruck (’20), Peter Sauer (’20), Christian Spencer (’22), and Will Huerth (’19) felt very spacious in the Enterprise Suburban they were driving for the weekend, and many laughs were had on their cross country road trip. Sunday evening, they finally arrived at CJ and Kimball Bocklet’s house on Long Island (parents of Wisco Sailing alum Charles Bocklet), and most of the sailors settled into bed while Will Huerth went to LaGuardia Airport to pick up Maggie Houtz (’19), the 6th member of the squad.
Saturday morning, in the midst of torrential downpour, we left the Bocklet’s early in order to pick up our coach for the weekend, Claire Dennis, at her train stop. Then, we headed to the site and settled in for a long postponement while the Race Committee waited for the wind and rain to calm down. After about two hours and only a slight decrease in wind, the RC decided to send the sailors out on the water to see what would happen in the 20-35 MPH breeze. It made for an exciting morning for our heavy crews, a fair amount of carnage on the race course, and lots of entertainment for Claire and our light crews, Maggie and Olivia. Steadily, over the course of the day, the wind piped down to around 15-20, and the race committee was able to complete 8 races in each division (with Christian and Will getting a 4th in the last race!).
On Sunday, the sailors arrived to the site to see beautiful sunshine over the water and a gorgeous 7-10 MPH breeze. Maggie and Olivia subbed in for Will and Peter, and all the sailors hit the water to complete 8 more races in each division. Over the course of the weekend, we enjoyed sailing in such a competitive fleet and felt as though we were really getting dialed in in both the 420 and the FJ. We can’t wait to take the lessons we learned at Admiral’s Cup and put them to the test at Coed Qual’s this upcoming weekend. HUGE shout-out to Claire Dennis for taking the time to coach us this weekend, and for sticking with us through our race losses and our race wins. You are the best! Also, the biggest thank you goes out to CJ and Kimball Bocklet for letting us stay at their beautiful home over Easter weekend, and providing us with meals and snacks throughout the regatta! We couldn’t do what we do without the kindness of members of our community, and we are truly grateful. Go Go Wisco!
Womens Quals (April 13th & 14th, 2019)
The Honey Badgers were faced with challenging conditions this past weekend at Women’s Quals at Northwestern. Sailing A’s were Cailin Considine and her crew Emma Zalog and sailing B’s were Erin Sullivan and her crew Anna Thickens. Although heavy crews Larissa Carroll and Rebekah Janssen were prepared to sail in the wild conditions on Saturday, the 4 and a half foot waves and heavy winds were a safety hazard and sailing was postponed till Sunday. With all of Saturday ahead of them and the big city of Chicago minutes away, the Honey Badgers decided to visit the Bean and stroll down Michigan Avenue. They then returned to their wonderful hosts in Winnetka, Larissa’s aunt and uncle. After a day of enjoying the nice weather and doing homework, the sailors were ready to compete on Sunday with the race warning time of 8am. The first few sets were a learning curve and the sailors were seeing improvement as the day went on. Unfortunately, the conditions were super light and the boats were bobbing around for over an hour after the short 10 minute midday break. With the inability to sail another A race after 3, and only the one day of sailing a total of 8 sets were sailed. The Honey Badgers finished just shy of qualifying for nationals in 4th place.