Central Late Fall

On the weekend of 19th-21st we, the Rutgers Sailing Team, made the journey down to Chestertown, MD for the annual Central Late Fall regatta hosted by Washington College. The drive was ok, but once you get into Maryland the only roads are lonely country roads that seem to lead to nowhere, and at night are quite a pain to navigate on. Once we reached the motel the notorious “Driftwood,” both notorious for its low quality and the historic happenings of sailing teams there, I became somewhat confused. The years previous every club team had stayed there and the socialization of the multiple teams there had been the highlight of the regatta, this year was somewhat lackluster however. Only us, Penn State, Monmouth, and Delaware actually stayed or were anywhere near the motel making the evening activities fun, but lacking. Although lackluster when the pride of Rutgers was challenged by Penn State, I did single handedly regain our pride and show Penn State who’s boss.

The next day made up for that however as the wind filled in to a about 10-12 knots. I set Sophia as skipper for A fleet with Michaela and Shrey as her crew, their first race Sophia and Michaela got our best finish a 14th out of 18th. B fleet was skippered for the day by Adam with his crew changing from Oscar, Cole, and Kim throughout the day (I purposely didn’t sail that day because the wind was supposed to be really heavy the next and I knew I would need to have my options open for who I would sail with the next day, or I’m just lazy you decide). The highlight of the day was when Adam and Oscar capsized due to a miscommunication and couldn’t right their boat for a good 20 min as they floated downriver, it was hilarious, but alas I didn’t get it on camera. After a long day of sailing as Washington’s coach saw the forecasted wind for the next day and wanted to get in as many races as possible we finally went back to the Driftwood all exhausted. That night we went out to a great BBQ place I would highly recommend called Smoked Rattle & Roll, it was delicious and some of the best southern eating I’ve had in awhile. That night we socialized with the same teams as the night before.

The next morning it was exactly as had been predicted 20-22 knot winds with gust up to the 30s range, almost impossible to sail in. With two races of B fleet left, I made the decision that Sophia would skipper and I would crew and honestly we got out fine. We took on a little water at one point and I could tell Sophia was a little uncomfortable, but I encouraged her it was fine (I was having a hell of a time, I haven't sailed in wind that good in awhile). However a little before the first start we saw Penn State completely turtle their boat and us being maybe 50 lbs lighter than them we both made the decision to head in. Along the way, a gust hit us hard and because of my clumsiness and Washington College making their hiking straps too tight I missed it as we hiked out and fell head first into the water. I must commend Sophia on her cool under pressure she didn’t freak out at all and quickly released her sail so I could grab the boat and haul myself quickly back into the boat. We made it back to the dock where I was greeted with cheers from UDel, Penn State, and Monmouth who had all seen me fall right in front of them. We laughed it off, derigged, and then left around 11:30, making it back to Rutgers by 3:30. All in all, the regatta was ok on the nightlife, but great on the sailing side the exact opposite of what it had been last year. We finished in 17th out of 18th, but overall I think we all learned some great lessons and I would definitely come back again next year.

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