Nov. 8, 2010
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University sailing team competed in three regattas last weekend.
The fourth time was the charm for Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor). After finishing sixth in this event for the last three years, Buckingham finally pulled out a hard-fought win at the ICSA Men's Singlehanded National Championship. This is the fourth time the Hoyas have won this event. This championship was hosted by USF at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The conditions over the three-day event were ideal. The wind was strong throughout and the conditions favored a more seasoned sailor whose technique in the boat is solid. The strategy for Buckingham was to get out of the first day with no bad races. He succeeded in doing that but was not in first overall as Cy Thompson from Roger Williams University won six of the first seven races.
On day two, over the next six races, Buckingham pulled to about even with Thompson when an unfavorable call forced him to restart the race. Thompson went on to get third in the race and Buckingham finishing 12, putting him 12 points back overall with four races left. With one race left on Saturday, Buckingham won race 15 by a wide margin with Thompson taking eighth.
Three races remained on Sunday with Buckingham five points back. Thompson was over the line early in race 16 and had to restart while Buckingham hit the line perfectly and led wire to wire. Despite winds that broke his Cunningham line, Buckingham still handily won the race. Thompson ended up sixth in the race and with two races left Buckingham and Thompson were tied with 51 points each.
The next race proved to be crucial. Buckingham's speed upwind gave him the edge over Thompson throughout, finishing the race in third while Thompson placed 11th. Buckingham entered the 18th and final race with an eight-point lead on Thompson. In the pre-start maneuvering, Thompson gained the upper hand as the judges called a spin out from Buckingham as sculling. Buckingham was flagged by the judges and had to complete two penalty turns. As Buckingham was finishing his turns he looked like he would start about 40 seconds late but the entire fleet started early, forcing a restart. Buckingham gained the advantage in the prestart the next time around and was able to tack out off the line with Thompson pinned to the unfavorable side. Buckingham rounded the first mark in first. On the run, Thompson forced Buckingham high, causing him to sail into a windless pocket while the rest of the fleet got a puff from the left side of the course that they all took to pass Buckingham. He rounded the second mark in 12th but stayed close to Thompson on the next two legs. On the final beat Buckingham stayed close to Thompson, who finished 11th while Buckingham finished 15, enough to secure first place with 69 points while Thompson ended the regatta with 73 points. Footage of the last race can be found at http://www.sailgroove.org/coverage/237770-2010-ICSALaserPerformance-Singlehand-Nationals/video/363942-Standard-Race-18
Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) also competed for the Hoyas. Chris finished fourth at this regatta last year but a rough first day put him in 16th overall. Over the course of the next two days Barnard found his speed again and was able to finish 10th overall.
Not to be outdone by the men, the Hoya women took home the Fall Conference Championship at Old Dominion this weekend. Sailing an 11-race series in nice conditions, the women led wire to wire giving them the victory and a berth at the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship at Eckerd College next weekend. The B division team of Lauren Burke (Dartmouth, Mass./Tabor Academy) with crews Tory Lynch (New York City, N.Y./Horace Mann) for the first two races and Nancy Hagood (Charleston, S.C./Ashley Hall) for races 3-11 excelled in the windy races, winning the last three in a row to help clinch the championship.
This was the inaugural MAISA Match Race Championship sailed in Sonars at Kings Point. The results for all the weekend's events are below. The Hoyas will compete in their final events of the fall this weekend.
ICSA Men's Singlehanded National Championship at St. Petersburg, Fla. Overall Results 1. Charlie Buckingham 10. Chris Barnard
MAISA Women's Fall Championship at Old Dominion A Division 2. Sydney Bolger and Rebecca Evans B Division 1. Lauren Burke, Tory Lynch and Nancy Hagood
MAISA Match Race Championship at Kings Point Georgetown team: Scott Furnary, Andrew Mason, Lincoln Heilner, Amanda Taselaar Overall: 1. St. Mary's 2. Kings Point 3. Navy 4. Georgetown 5. Old Dominion 6. NY Maritime 7. Hobart/William Smith
