Spring 2010 Alumni Regatta: Report

Spring 2010 Alumni Regatta

Conditions: Although the wind was not present early in the day (forcing a game of Frisbee), it did fill in for the afternoon from the southwest. It was shifty at times with oscillating puffs, but was adequate for sailing after we changed the racing format from team racing to fleet racing. Despite snow flurries on Tuesday, all competitors appreciated the 80 degrees and sunshine. Please note: as we are writing this report it is once again snowing in Ithaca. Hooray for the great (warm) weather we had for the Regatta!

Weekend Format: On Friday early arrivals were able to get in a practice with the team before the official start of the regatta with drinks at Rulloffs. Saturday included fleet racing ending with a crew race (crew-skipper switch) for the final race of the day. We were only able to get a few races off do to the weather conditions and time.

Race Committee:
Conner Fitzpatrick ’13, Colleen Cozzens ’12 and Emma Lejeune ’13

Mark Boats:
Katie McNeill ’11, Heather Knowlton ’11, Nate Treffeisen ’12, Ali Love ’11, Tina Rho ’12, Rachel Storey ’12, and Chris Iriarte ’13, Jon Goldsmith ‘11.

The BBQ followed soon after racing. While everyone was eating delicious food our race committed Colleen Cozzens ’12 and Conner Fitzpatrick ’13 presented awards to:

First Place: Philip Alley ’12 and Whitney Patross ’05 / ‘10
Second Place: Andre Van Rynbach ’07 and Allie Gardiner ’10
Third Place: Scott Grandt ’08 and Laura Graham ’09 (extra point for having two alumni in their boat)
Sportsmanship award: Team Turner: Rick Turner ’77 and Lauren Turner ‘13


The Top 3 Finishers from the left: Phil, Whitney, Laura, Scott, Allie, and Andre

Final Places
1 Philip Alley ‘12 and Whitney Patross ‘05
2 Andre Van Rynback. ‘07 and Allie Gardiner ‘10
(2*) Vince Andrews ‘11 and Blair ’11 (Blair and Tina ‘11)
3 Scott Grandt ‘08 and Laura Graham ’09
4 Andrew Davis ‘02 and Della Bradt‘13
5 Alex Fee ‘06 and Alex Gensemer ‘13
6 Rick Turner ‘77and Lauren Turner ‘13
7 Josh Keegan ’06 and Eric Magnuson ‘07
8 Mike Rivlin ’13 and Emily Parkinson ‘12
9 Jason Fine ‘05 (Chris Iriate ‘13/ Nate T ‘12)
10 Jonathon Rupp ‘and Anisha ‘13
11 Ben Kraus ’03 and Hillary ‘13

*Although Vince and Blair originally took second place, under Alumni Adjusted Scoring they were down-graded. Alumni Adjusted Scoring requires an alumnus to be in the boat in order to place in the top three.

Team discussion
A team discussion/forum, moderated by Scott Grandt with the topic "The transition from a student run to coached team," was conducted after the BBQ with alumni and current members. The discussion was very helpful in instigating communication between the current members and alumni. Members were able to get a better understanding of how the leaders of FOCS were imaging the team’s future. For example that it is anticipated that the team will be structured like Brown’s club sailing team and not like Yale’s or Dartmouth varsity sailing team. The current members were asked to write down attributes the team is looking for in a coach. Enthusiasm was on the top of the list. The day ended with a party at the sailing house where the team debuted its new beer pong table which certain alumni totally dominated winning an estimated 10 games in a row.

Thanks
Additional thanks to Skipper – who did some wonderful photography along with Alex Gensemer ’13 and Emma Lejeune ‘14. Thanks to the sailing house for a great party (we LOVE the new table!) and thanks to our alumni regatta organizers Colleen Cozzens and Scott Grandt – their hard work made the weekend a success! And thank you to all our alumni that traveled and took time out of their schedule to spend time with the Cornell Sailing Team!

We hope to see everyone at the next alumni regatta this fall – October 2, 2010!