Sonar World Championships

Starting tomorrow our Keelboat Team will be racing for the Sonar Class World Championship. 53 of the best boats in the competitive class will gather in Noroton, CT for 4 days of racing in Long Island Sound. The Kings Point Power Squadron will be providing vessel support for race committee. Best of luck to our teams, and check back here for updates as well as-

Noroton Yacht Club

International Sonar Class

Dinghy Weekend Update

North #1 Regatta
Despite being blown-out by windy conditions on Saturday and the challenges of a light and extremely shifty breeze on Sunday, the KP Dinghy Team sailed to a fourth place overall finish at the North #1 regatta. The finish earned the Team a berth to the War Memorial and MAISA Fall Championship on October 31-November 1 at St. Mary's College.

On Saturday morning, the team arrived to a puffy 18-25 knot southerly on Seneca Lake. The Race Committee attempted to start a race, but the steep chop and high winds proved too much for many of the teams, leading to a postponement onshore until the early afternoon. Once the wind had died to a more manageable 15-18 knots, A-division and B-division started two races apiece before the building chop caused racing to be abandoned for the day.


Laser #2 Regatta
This past weekend Kings Point hosted the MAISA Laser North #2 qualifier for the Van Duyne Trophy. We were graced with perfect conditions on Saturday with winds ranging from 8 to 16 knots out of the South East allowing us to complete the rotation on day one. Kings Point had four sailors competing in the regatta - Bobby Boger, Evan Siepert, Ian Holtzworth and Jake Rugland.
Congratulations to Ian Holtzworth who finished 2nd and to Bobby Boger who finished 5th, missing a qualifying position by one point. Special thanks to the plebs and midshipmen who helped run a successful event. Stay tuned for the Van Duyne Trophy back at the waterfront on October 10th-11th where Eric Horrocks and Ian Holtzworth will be racing for a spot at the ICSA men¹s single-handed championship.

VARSITY ROWING TAKES THE HARLEM

October 26, 2009 Head of the Harlem – New York, NY
Both the Women’s and Men’s plebe crews rowed superbly to capture the top honors in the Novice Freshman race at the Head of the Harlem Regatta on Saturday. The race was attended by over 15 of the best local college and club teams in the area including Columbia, Forham and New York University.

The Kings Point Plebe/Novice Eight-Man Crew was the first to take to the mighty Harlem River. In the their first outing in the ‘eight’, the crew of Coxswain- David Wong, Stroke- Chris Murphy, 7-Garrett Poncin, 6-John Wood, 5-Brendan Rohr, 4-Brian Nichols, 3-Dustin Downing, 2- Kevin Woloszyk, and Bow-Grant Johnson took the challenge of the three-mile course seriously. Rowing with a slight current, the crew clocked a very quick 14:05 as it stroked at over thirty strokes per minute for the entire race course. This was indeed a fast time for a novice crew and almost fast enough to defeat the more experinced varsity crew of Fordham who completed the course in 13:28. However the mariners were the fastest novice crew of the day and captured gold medals in the process.

They battled the pleasure boaters and the changing tides, but the Women’s Plebe/Novice crew of Coxswain-Casey Moore, Stoke-Emily Meehan, 3-Kate O’Connor, 2-Elsie Dominguez, and Bow-Christi Gallo made it a gold medal day. Despite taking on four inches of water and rowing through heavy swells, the crew completed the course in superb form and brought the rowing shell back to the dock while laughing at the very challenging situation. ‘They rowed with great form and a winning spirit’ said Coach Derek Hartwick following the race. The crew completed the course in 21:30, fast enough to be the first Novice crew of the day.

“They will meet a greater number of crews next week at the Textile River Regatta. I know that they will all be up for the challenge” said Hartwick. The team travels to Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts next week as they continue preparations for the prestigious Head of the Charles on October 17-18.

Update From Peet Must '05 49er Campaign

Dear Fans,

Peet and I would first off like to thank everyone for all of your awesome support, whether it was a donation, a place to stay, or all the cheering from the sidelines, we couldn’t do it without you.

Our summer schedule consisted of 2 great regattas, the Delta Lloyd in the Netherlands which is a stop on the Gold Cup tour and the 2009 World Championships in Lake Garda, Italy. The Delta Lloyd was our first regatta with the new all carbon fiber mast and square top mainsail which is just a dream to sail. The regatta was a huge step in our learning curve, being our first international regatta, we were competing against the best from Europe. We trained with some Europeans for about 5 days leading up to the event to try and figure out the new mast and sail set up. As the regatta went on we got better and better; we rounded a few windward marks around 10th and wound up with our best finish in the last race. It was a great regatta, we learned a ton and especially started to understand what exactly needs to be done.

Stop two was the 2009 World Championships in Lake Garda, Italy. We arrived early and had about 10 days of some great training in big breeze; it is always windy in Garda. The Worlds were an awesome event, 6 days of unbelievable sailing conditions against the world’s best. We had some real shining moments during the worlds. In the qualifying round we had a couple of low teen finishes and we beat the 2 time world champion to the top mark once. We missed qualifying for silver fleet by a few points and wound up in bronze fleet, not a total bummer. We learned so much being a top player in our fleet, finishing 4 out of 7 races in the top 10 with a 2nd in the first race. All in all it was an unbelievable experience and our 49er sailing is really starting to take shape.

What’s next: we plan on training now through December for the 2010 Worlds which are being held in the Bahamas January 2-9, 2010. What’s also really great is that the 2010 North Americans and the Miami OCR regatta are also in January in Miami. Our plan is to give a big push for these up coming regattas.

This winter is going to be a start to the half way point in this campaign and we need to stay on track. This we believe, will include a lot of coaching. We have been in contact with some veteran 49er sailors and they all want to help. We are hoping to put together a schedule that will include the practice and coaching that we need.

You can keep in touch with our training and results by checking out our webpage http://www.barnegatbay49er.com/ or at Team Barnegat Bay on Facebook. If you wish to make a donation to our campaign, the information is also on our webpage.

Thanks for all your support,
Carl and Peet

More Why We Do.......

A little more from Captain Prosser- here on Sea Sense, something that cannot be learned in a classroom or a simulator.

But sea sense does not consist only of this ability to cope with special problems of relative velocity. It is concerned with a constant pro-occupation, waking or sleeping, with the weather and its effects, both now and in the foreseeable future on the safety and movement of a ship. It is concerned with an ability to sense the stresses to which a ship is being subjected by rough seas and to take steps to relieve them before they become critical. It is concerned with a realization of the seas’ overwhelming power when in any angry mood, the size and power of modern ships not withstanding, and with the ability to react to a crisis not with terror which is the natural human reaction, but with coldness and judgment. It is concerned with thinking ahead and acting prudently, making things fast so that they are not only safe now but will remain safe in a few hours time: when it is dark, the tide has turned and the wind increased. Sea sense means to think as the sea thinks, to feel as the sea feels, this sensibility comes most positively through the prideful mastery of sail training.

Offshore Team Wins Secretary's Cup Point Against USCGA

The Offshore Team beat the Coast Guard Academy team at the Shields Trophy Regatta at Navy last weekend. The Shields Trophy is the fall event for points for the Secretary's Cup competition, the annual all-sport competition vs. the Coast Guard Academy for athletic bragging rights. Well done!!

Mystic Rowing

As you can see it was a beautiful day on the water in Mystic!

Shields Trophy Comeback

With excellent tactics, speed, and fleet management, Kings Point jumped from 6th to 4th in just 2 light air races today. Clearly the midshipmen have figured out the Navy 44 and will be a big force in the fleet as we continue toward our goal of winning Kennedy Cup.
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Womens Pair Beats Coast Guard at Coastweeks Regatta

Anna Simons and Kacey Rohloff rowed the 1800 meter course in 10:01 to beat two teams from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy!  This is the first time out women rowers have beat USCGA.

Results

Shields Trophy First Day

It was a challenging day on the water in Annapolis that left our team sixth after 4 hard races. The good news is that we are fast and have the best boat handling in the fleet. Some tactical changes tomorrow will surely bring some top results in this tough fleet.
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Sunrise at Sea for Kings Point Rowing

Morning arrival in Fishers Island Sound and Mystic, CT for Kings Point rowers on their way aboard Liberator and Maximon to compete in the Coastweeks Regatta at Mystic Seaport.

Where We'll Be

Liberator and Maximon at the 2008 Coastweeks Regatta in Mystic, CT


This weekend the Dinghy Team will be competing in the Nevin's Trophy Regatta here at Kings Point.


The Rowing Team will be traveling by sea to Mystic Seaport to compete in the years first regatta. Liberator and Maximon will be docked at the finish line, so any Easter Connecticut Kings Pointer's and Parents, feel free to stop by and check out the team on Saturday or Sunday.

And the Offshore Team will be racing in Larchmont and Annapolis.

Good Luck!!

Why We Do What We Do

So the part of my job as Sailing Master that is never written up here are the hours sitting in administrative meetings, and recently many of them have been about institutional planning and strategic goals etc. We'll review and develop and update these for the Waterftont with proper metrics and all- but the real outline for what we do at the KP Waterfront was beautifully outlined by the first Sailing Master at KP- Captain Prosser. I won't put it all up at once, but each section really hits the nail on the head. Below is perhaps my favorite passage of a white paper that Captain Prosser wrote in the early 1960's-

Then there are the special educational influences of being at sea under sail. Probably the most important additional quality induced is self-reliance. Life under sail is nearly always a perpetual struggle with the blind forces of nature which are no respecters of persons nor can one contract out of the struggle. It has to be waged by each individual on board with all his powers. Because sailing ships are often smaller than power vessels and always more dependent upon and susceptible to weather, special discipline must prevail. The man in charge must obey instantly under all conditions, very often conditions of extreme fatigue and discomfort. The discipline which the safety of the ship and the crew require must be accepted with willingness and alacrity. The occasional condition of danger or potential danger, while giving opportunities for the display of courage, quickly produces prudence and the habit of thinking ahead in a way that few other activities rival. And finally, if as is often the case, the crew is small there is constant scope and encouragement for unselfishness, that most truly respected of all qualities.

Weekend Update- Sailing Team off to a Great Start

Kings Point Sailing Competed in 5 Events this Weekend-

Laser North Qualifier at KP- Eric Horroks finished 3rd to qualify for the district championships

Riley Cup at ODU- USMMA 3rd, congrats to Brett Baker, Sara Mock, Chris Herring, and Alyssa Montague

Cornell Fall Open- USMMA 3rd, congrats to Pat Reilly, Casey Gilmore, Dan Liberty, and Elle Rogers.

Pine Trophy at USCGA- USMMA 6th- after a rough start the team finished strong on Sunday, beating Navy.

Sonar LIS Champs-USMMA finished 15th in a tough fleet- getting ready for the Sonar World Championships

Parents Weekend, Laser Regatta, Coast Guard Game, Shell Christening, oh, and somehow Stephen Colbert showed up on the Waterfront!

Busy weekend at KP.  Great to meet so many parents, and to see so many Plebes showing off the Waterfront to parents and family.

Four Kings Point Sailors compete to qualify for the District Singlehanded Championship.

 RWO Jordan Musselman with Stephen Colbert aboard Liberator

Fans Rush Tomb Field after the Double Overtime Victory over Coast Guard

Coach Hartwick introducing the Rowing Team during a Shell Christening.

NIght Piloting / Navigation Class 2

So I forgot to bring my camera, but it was night, so not much to see anyway. Last night we took Liberator and Growler for our second Night Navigation and Piloting course on the East River. Small groups of midshipman had the opportunity to pilot the vessels through the harbor and into the narrow Rikers Island Channel for practice in a lit buoyed channel. Lots of practice with radio comms, traffic management, and tight quarters shiphandling. Standouts aboard Liberator were Plebes Kate O'Connor conning through the bridges (I think she has it in her blood,) Plebe Erika Lawson making a great first time (and very complicated) security call, and Jeff Musselman 3/c bringing the boat into the basin and docking on a dark night.

M/N Kevin Reilly at New Jersey Laser Regatta

The morning of the laser regatta, I showed up to the yacht club with full expectations to do pretty well since there was a good breeze and I am a bigger guy. The fleet was only about 7 full rig lasers, with 3 or 4 radials included. I started out the regatta with a start that involved me getting pinched out at the committee boat, but I slowly regained ground by taking the right side of the course when everybody went left. The breeze only increased throughout the day, and it got to the point where it was blowing around 15 to 20 knots with puff pockets. I can honestly say I haven’t been so tired from hiking/balancing in a sailing regatta in a very long time. I must be out of shape or something, but it was a struggle, even during the first race. The second race looked promising right up until about 10 seconds before the start. I wanted to start off the pin, but while waiting for the last few seconds before the start, the wind clocked hard to the left, making it impossible to cross the starting line with the ripping current. I ended up having to gybe around and start on port underneath about 3 boats. Again, that race was mostly spent regaining lost ground. The last race was the most promising, but Murphy’s Law proved itself yet again- if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. I had a beautiful start off the pin and sat on top of the fleet for a very long, struggling windward leg, and ended up rounding the windward mark in first, about 10 to 15 boat lengths in front of the next laser. I rounded the mark and started planing back downwind, doing my best to keep balanced and under control. Unfortunately I caught a strong puff at an awkward angle and death rolled while on a plane. I dry-tipped immediately but had the laser turn right back over on top of me since the mast was windward of the centerboard. I righted my laser twice before getting back into the race, which put me behind two boats but still very much in the race. I managed to sail the entire leg before having to gybe and snagging my boom in the water, causing the laser to turn up and over quickly, capsizing for the third time. The rest of the race after that was just the same tune on a broken record. Overall, I managed to get 4th place, but it felt like a last place. It was a well run regatta and the breeze was great, but for me it was just amateur hour. Hopefully I will be able to practice my laser sailing a little bit more so that I will be ready for such heavy air conditions.

Storm Heads to the Great Lakes

On Thursday, the diverse crew of two power squad skippers, Peter Kaple 11’ Jeff Musselman 12’ one crew team captain Sam Diedrick 10’, and a sailor Chuck Floyd-Jones 10’ piled into a van and headed to Albany, NY to start what turned out to be an eventful and incredible weekend. Storm is being transferred to NOAA and is being taken ultimately to Muskegon, MI; we were tasked with getting her a third of the way there to Buffalo. Storm departed KP for the last time Thursday morning crewed by Rich Cain and Denis Donahue Marine Superintendent for the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory and headed for Albany. The Midshipmen crew then jumped in the van after class Thursday and met them in Albany where we would trade Rich Cain van for boat and start our journey to Buffalo. 0600 Friday morning rolled around and the crew was ready to go, the dense fog however had other plans for us. One hour went by and the fog had lifted just enough that the crew, now of midshipmen and Denis Donahue (who was great in helping us learn and leaving the major evolutions to the midshipmen) felt comfortable enough to get under way. With lookouts on the bow we slowly made our way through the beginning of the Erie Canal and made it to our first lock. Right about this time the fog had lifted and everyone could relax a bit. Friday consisted of a full day of locks, sunshine, and no wake zones which allowed all the crew to experience a beautiful part of New York that none of the Midshipmen had seen before. The long day landed us at the outlet of the Erie Canal on Lake Oneida at 2200 Friday night. Saturday morning again came early getting under way around 0500 to make our way to Lake Ontario. For some this was the first time seeing any of the Great Lakes and the weather for our 5 hour cruise on the lake could not have been better. After and evening swim and shower in the clean and refreshing Lake Ontario, and crew member Peter Kaple 11’ wondering where the salt was… we continued on to the Welland Canal. We began the 24 mile transit through the canal around midnight and were in Lake Erie by 0500 the following morning. This could not have been a worse time to lose the GPS, but we did. With only paper charts and radar we made our way in the dark from the south end of the Welland Canal into Buffalo Harbor where we would leave Storm in the hands of NOAA and get in a van to make the trip back to KP. The weekend was amazing experience for the entire crew. The 310 mile trip consisted of countless hours of boat handling experience through canals and tight spaces, night navigation into a new port and in foreign waters, restricted visibility, VHF communications, and fairly consistent maintenance issues which forced good teamwork and the use of our skills learned in the classroom and at the waterfront. 

Crossing Swords

Titan and Vanquish jockey for the start of the Vineyard Race.  

More Start photos here!

Vineyard Race Awards

Midshipmen Ben Reavis and Derrick Cherico accept the award for Vanquish for first place in class in the 2009 Vineyard Race.

Growler at the New York Tug Competition

Growler competed yesterday in the New York Harbor Tugboat Competition.  The crew had a good time, and were able to meet many of the Captains and companies that operate in the harbor.  Here they are "pushing up" nose to nose to compare pushing power with a much larger tug.

Vanquish Wins Class in 75th Vineyard Race

Vanquish finished the Vineyard Race yesterday afternoon, and after waiting for the rest of the fleet to finish for results, corrected into first place in the IRC Zero class, beeting several fully professionally crewed boats, sailed by some of the top sailors in the sport, and finishing 4th overall of 46 boats in the IRC class.  It was mostly a light air race, and our Kings Point sailors did a great job of keeping the boat moving, and finding the wind.

More Pictures Here

Vanquish First Around Three Marks in Vineyard Race

It's never a good sign to anchor in sailboat race... Vineyard Race Update.

But it is up now and we are hanging close to our competition, Rambler and Titan.  Beautiful moonlight night, watching the light on Faulkners island, and making the best of every 2 knot puff of wind.  And it seems like our tracker started to work- check out www.fistracking.com/2009V

No Tracking on Vanquish....

Guess our tracker doesn't work....we are south of Faulkner Island in light NW'ly wind and a lovely dinner of cold pizza.  Could be a slow night.....

Pat Ambrose trimming the A1 as the wind dies....

Vineyard Update

Vanquish is off of Bridgeport, CT.  Just changed to the Code Zero, wind south at 8 knots, boatspeed 10.5.  Beautiful day on the water!

Vineyard Race Start On Vanquish

Just started the Vineyard Race- due to the light forecast the Race Comittee has chosen to send us on the short course.  Stamford to New London and back.  Start was good, now cruising through the fleet at about 10 knots, but the wind is not supposed to hold. 

Titan and Vanquish get Ready for the Vineyard Race

Tom and Dotty Hill's new 75' Titan made its second visit to KP this week to prep for the Vineyard Race.  Some of the all-star crew made the rounds with our sailors as Titan and KP's STP 65 Vanquish prepare for the 238 mile race which starts Friday at 1300.  Tracking available here for what looks like a very light air race, so if you Labor Day plans include sitting in front of a computer- check us out here!

Peter Isler talks to the KP Dinghy Team about Collegiate Sailing