BOSTON, Mass. – Two weekends ago, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy sailing team competed at four different competitions. At the George Morris Trophy in Boston, the team achieved 10^th place out of 15, which was most impressive given the competition. Meanwhile, in a home regatta, Buccaneer sailors were sixth of 12. The other two competitions are covered separately.

The headliner of the weekend's quartet of regattas was the George Morris Trophy at Boston University in which the Buccaneers competed against their toughest opponents yet, with a field that included nine NCAA Division-I universities.

Sailing began with a shifty, blustery Saturday on the Charles River. The breeze started as a westerly 10-15 knot for A-fleet and Junior Frank Reeg and freshman Auguste Pizzano. After a difficult first two races, Reeg and Pizzano improved and finished competitively in each following race.

Sophomore Alex Bowen and Senior Sergio Gratta started the day in B fleet with a retirement in their first race, but improved to eighth in their second. They finished the day with a race win and a second place as the breeze continued to shift to the north.

Sunday also brought tricky racing to the Charles with the breeze ranging from 5-15 knots and oscillating from the north to the west all day. The Bucs A-squad picked up where they left off and finished the day with a win in their third race, earning themselves 10th in A Fleet. The B-team stayed consistent but it wasn't enough to improve from 10th in B Fleet.

Overall the Buccaneers finished 10th of 15 very strong teams, placing ahead of Bentley University (NCAA Division-II) Boston University 2, Yale University, Wellesley College, and Syracuse University, and look forward to improve in next weekend's national qualifier. Full results can be found here.

On Sunday, the Buccaneers also fielded boats at the O'Toole Regatta at the Great Herring Pond, home of the Academy's Keith Hartford Sailing Center. Sailors from 12 universities were met with clear blue skies, warm weather, and a shifty 10 knots of wind. The wind started as a northwesterly with strong puffs, large lulls, and a consistent tendency to swing right, which continued all day. This made racing difficult for the sailors and race committee alike.

The Buccaneers started their day with a difficult race and a 10th place finish in the A Division. Skipper Braden Foster and crew Maeve Glancy, however, had many podium finishes as the day went on. In the B Division, Skipper Luke Turner and crew William Tagliamonte saw even more success, passing many boats on the final downwind leg of the first race for a 5th place finish.

Overall, MMA placed sixth overall with a total of 52 points from 10 races. They were bested by first place Brown University with 29 points and second place University of Vermont Catamounts with 31 points. Just ahead of the Bucs were Salve Regina's two boats at 36 and 42 points and Tufts University at 52.

Maritime's sailors finished well ahead of boats from UMass-Dartmouth, UMass-Boston, the University of Connecticut, the University of New England, Middlebury College, and Amherst College.

Full results can be found here. Make sure to bookmark www.mmabucs.com for more on sailing at MMA and get the inside scoop on Facebook and Twitter @mmabuccaneers. Plus, check out our new Instagram @massmaritimebuccaneers.

Gabriel Fidler, Sports Information Associate, with copy from Matt Wordell, Head Dinghy Coach