Dinghy Sailing Uses Come-From-Behind Effort To Take Top Honors In New England Fall Invitational

Dinghy Sailing Uses Come-From-Behind Effort To Take Top Honors In New England Fall Invitational

MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME DINGHY SAILING

New England Fall Invitational

Saturday - Sunday, October 31-November 1, 2015

Keith Hartford Sailing Center, Bourne, Mass.

 

BOURNE, Mass. --  The Massachusetts Maritime dinghy sailing team used a come-from-behind performance on Sunday afternoon to capture top honors in the New England Fall Invitational that took place over the weekend at the Keith Hartford Sailing Center, as the Buccaneers used a win in the final race of the event to post a one point victory over Middlebury in the final team standings.

 

Freshman Frank Reeg (Spring Lake, Mich.) skippered Massachusetts Maritime’s “A” entry with sophomore crew Sergio Gratta (Sarasota, Fla.), while sophomore Jeffrey Adam (Newport, R.I.) served as skipper of the Buccaneer “B” vessel with freshman crew Jacquelynn Devore (Chesapeake, Va.).  The hosts received three top three performances from Reeg and Gratta on Saturday, while Adam and Devore notched two first place finishes to go with a runner-up effort that put Massachusetts Maritime seven points behind Middlebury’s Panthers in second place.

 

Sunday’s races brought stronger and steadier winds, as the “A” entry recorded a pair of first place performances and a second place finish but only gained one point on Middlebury’s lead.  The Buccaneer “B” boat closed that cap with a third place finish in its first race of the day, and in an exciting finish, Adam and Devore beat out New Hampshire’s B entry to win the division and give Massachusetts Maritime its overall triumph by a 40-41 margin.  New Hampshire’s Wildcats placed third with 67 points, while McGill and Bates tied for fourth with 71 points each.

 

Additionally, Massachusetts Maritime competed in the Tufts Nickerson Trophy over the weekend, as the freshman-only event featured 20 teams from across the East.  Freshmen Braden Foster (Trumbull, Conn.) and Catherine Haines (East Haddam, Conn.) comprised the Buccaneer "A" entry, while freshman Matthew Schaefer (Stratford, Conn.) and McKenna Jarvis (Dedham, Mass.) were in the "B" vessel.  Both teams compiled 64 points in their opening day of competition in light and shifty winds, and though Sunday brought better wind conditions, Massachusetts Maritime had to overcome minor breakdowns throughout the day and placed 17th overall in the final team standings, as the Buccaneers finished just five points behind New Hampshire in the event.

 

The Massachusetts Maritime offshore team will be in action next weekend at the prestigious John F. Kennedy Cup Regatta (considered the national championship of collegiate offshore sailing) that will be hosted by the United States Naval Academy, while the Buccaneer dinghy team will wrap up its fall slate at Salve Regina next weekend.

 

(Photo Credit:  Chris Barry)