31 October 2009

IRC East Coast Champs

Alumni Chris Branning '09 and Peet Must '05 aboard Vanquish

After a tough start in Friday's distance race (we went to the wrong mark on a tour of the Chesapeake- we still crossed the line first but corrected to 8th place) the KP team found its stride in the wind and drizzle on the bay today with a second and two firsts in the days three races, good enough to move us up to second in the competitive 8 boat fleet.  

30 October 2009

Offshore Team Heads to Annapolis for Three Regattas

Last weekend the Offshore Team finished 5th in the MacMillan Cup, sailed in Navy 44's at USNA.  After a disappointing performance on Saturday the team made progress on Sunday to claw back and qualify for next weekend's Collegiate Offshore Championship- the Kennedy Cup.  For the in between weekend we are in Annapolis sailing Vanquish in the East Coast IRC Championship.  Watch for results here.

26 October 2009

USMMA Wins KP Dinghy Open

Congrats to the following Midshipman for winning the KP Dinghy Open in tough conditions this weekend at Kings Point! Our B division team scored an amazing 28 points for 16 races!!

Casey Gilmore '10
Sara Mock '10
Nick Aswad '11
Kevin Reilly '11
Gary Herring '12

Results Here

Welcome Back KP Sailing!

20 October 2009

Name Our New Boat (Again!!)

(Edit) OK- so Gunsmoke is a cool name and all, but I've got to plug for my favorite- I think the boat is kind of spacey looking, and we have some history of naming boats after Waterfront dogs (Hercules) so how about Starlight, Ralf's lab who was with us for several years?

A few weeks ago we picked up a new donation (thank you Mr. DeJonge) and it needs a name! The boat is a pretty flashy looking 56' Simonis/Voogd Cruiser Racer.
Vote here on some ideas that we came up with ----------->>
Or send a comment with your own idea, but hurry this is only up for 24 hours!!!!










19 October 2009

Head of the Charles Regatta– The Fall Rowing Classic

KINGS POINT ROWING
Head of the Charles Regatta– The Fall Rowing Classic
October 17-18, 2009 - Regatta Results


VARSITY MEN’S FOUR PLACES 6th IN THE NATION AMONGST DIII CREWS


CAMBRIDGE – The Kings Point Varsity Men’s four-man crew raced well as it finished 20th overall in the Head of the Charles Regatta and 6th overall amongst the top Division III institutions in the nation.
The Head of the Charles Regatta is the largest rowing event in the world. In this years forty-third running of the regatta, 19 countries were represented by 7,500 competitors and cheered on by nearly 300,000 spectators. College crews travel to Cambridge from forty states in the nation to determine the fall champions. Each of the two Kings Point crews met stiff competition and foul weather as they raced in categories that included crews from Division I, II, and III.

The crew of Coxswain Robert Kaldenbach ‘11, Stroke Steven Jones ’10,
3 – Charles Waters ‘10, 2- Connan Ingham ‘12 and Bowman Kyle O’Connor ’10, set a strong pace through the early stages of the race when it was fighting for a position on the river with University of Massachusetts. Unlike the strong tailwinds of last year last year’s competition, this year’s weather was dominated by gusty headwinds and the constant threat rain.

Led by the commanding voice of veteran coxswain Kaldenbach, the crew rowed a nearly flawless race but still fell short of winning a medal as they did in previous years. Division I Fordham completed the three miles in 17:00 to capture first. Kings Point’s time of18:13 was a strong performance for the less-than-ideal weather conditions. Based on last years performance, Kings Point started in the 6th spot and although only one crew passed them, some of the crews in the middle of the pack were able to post faster times.

The Men’s Varsity Eight as Kings Point raced the Collegiate Men’s Eight event for just the third time. Lead by the motivating voice and fine steering of Coxswain Daniel Dunn, the crew rowed its way through the five bridges and hairpin turns while trying to hold off crews that nipped at its stern. The crew of Coxswain Daniel Dunn ’13, Stroke- Thomas ‘Grey’ Gambill ’11, 7- Mike Stock ‘10, 6- Frank Osborne ’12, 5- Sam Diedrick ‘12, 4- Andrew Pfarner ‘11, 3 Jeremy Tunstall ’10 ‘12, 2 – John Wood ‘13, and Bow – Drew Baldwin ’10 clocked a time of 18:20 and finishing 35th amongst the best 38 teams in the country. Coach Daniel Udeanu seemed pleased with the crew’s performance but lamented over the poor rowing conditions of rain and strong cold winds “They are a young crew with two plebes and one of those having just learned how to row this fall.”

This competition ends the regular season although the team has been invited to compete in the Dowling Cup Challenge in November. The team will probably bring a couple crews to the challenge.



Regatta Results Online:
http://www.hocr.org/results/results.asp

15 October 2009

Leadership, Teamwork, Seamanship, Responsibility- When What We Teach All Comes Together

Given the number of boats and hours we spend on the water we are fortunate that we have not had many incidents at the KP Waterfront, though we spend a lot of time training for them, well this week that training did it's job.

To all, 

On Tuesday October 13, 2009 there was an incident aboard the S/V Renegade. Crew members aboard at the time were M/N Derrick Cherico (helm) and Logan Koltermann (main), and Plebes James Pilliod (jib), Mikkel Tophoj (bow), Stefano Ritondale (mast), and Zachary Bradley (2nd jib).  At the time the wind was blowing about 20-25 with gusts up to 30. The J29 doesn’t have instruments so this is just an estimate. We had a #3 jib up and one reef in the main. We did some tacks upwind then went wing-on-wing downwind for a bit then came back up. Our Offshore Coach John Porter told us to practice some man-overboard drills. Logan then went down below to get an extra fender to throw overboard. We were on starboard tack at the time and tossed the fender off the stern. We immediately called man overboard and eased sails and came down. The Plebes had an eye on our "man," then we jibed and came up wind and tacked onto stbd. We came up to our man head to wind. The Plebes were unable to recover our guy so we went back onto starboard tack for a bit then came back down to make another pass. Plebes Tophoj and Bradley had an outstretched arm pointing to the man in the water while Plebe Ritondale went down below to get the boat hook and Plebe Pilliod was working the jib. As we came downwind Derrick called ready to jibe, we all acknowledged and then jibed. It was then that Bradley lost his footing on the starboard side and began to slip in between the lower lifeline and the deck. He managed to grip onto the stanchion just aft of the shrouds while his waist/legs were trailing in the water. Only able to hold on for a few seconds he let go and fell in the water. He was under the water for approximately 4-5 seconds. Fearing the worst we kept an eye and waited for him to surface, still on port jibe. We immediately notified the rest of the crew this was no longer a drill and we had an actual man overboard. While Tophoj had an eye on Bradley in the water, Derrick came up and tacked the boat onto starboard. Bradley saw this and began swimming to us. We were not on starboard tack for long when the boat met up with Bradley. As Derrick tried to stop the boat, Logan luffed the main and ran over to the leeward (port) side and grabbed Bradley and hoisted him through the lower life line and the deck. We asked if he was hurt and he said no just cold. We then told him to go down below and warm up. It was at this point our Offshore Coach came up in the Ambar and made sure everyone was ok. After this fact, we went engine on doused the jib and main. Then making sure everyone was ok and had no serious injuries, we headed back into the basin.

            Other boats that were practicing too were the Lager, Hypnos, Diana, a few sonars and the dinghy team. However these boats were not in the immediate vicinity.  We think a few things we did right was to immediately notify the entire crew that there was a man overboard and to keep a sharp eye on him.  The waves were about 3-4 feet high, some even 5. This we’re sure made it hard to keep an eye on Bradley. We never were more than 200 feet from him which made it easy.  We were really impressed with the other Plebes on board. They did a great job of keeping an eye on our guy in the water and knowing what to do when the situation presented itself unexpectedly.  Especially with the weather getting colder, you never want someone in the water for too long. Luckily he was able to swim to us which made it easier for us to get him on board.

            We cannot think of much we did wrong, however in that kind of breeze with 2/3 of your crew plebes, it might have been a good idea not to jibe. Instead we could’ve came up on the wind, tacked, then came back down. That was one possibility, another is absolutely making sure everyone is ready before each tack and jibe. I think also Bradley may have been too focused on keeping an eye out for our fake man in the water and was not paying as much attention as he should’ve and lost his footing. There was definitely a ton of breeze that day and I think each of us learned something. We were very lucky to recover him so quickly and also that no one was seriously injured.

Very Respectfully,

MIDN Derrick Cherico 2/c and MIDN Logan Koltermann,2/c

3rd Company

Renegade Skippers

12 October 2009

Navy Day Regatta




United States Merchant Marine Academy

Navy Day Regatta – October 10, 2009


Team results 

The Kings Point Rowing team experienced mixed results on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia at the Navy Day Regatta on October 10. The team’s best placing was a respectable 11th place by the varsity men but had difficulty finishing in the top half with the other crew. The competition was very tight with many Division I, II and III teams including Navy and Army. 

The regatta was created as a way to commemorate the founding of the U.S. Navy. This competition was the team’s last preparatory race prior to competing next weekend at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, MA. For the plebe crews, it was the last competition of the regular season. 

While the team did not bring home medals, each crew put forth their best effort. With a day of mixed weather and a progressively stronger tail wind the race times were fast for most races. 

The Men’s Varsity Four started the day off for Kings Point with what was to be the best performance in the Collegiate Four event. With only forty-five seconds separating the top 13 crews, the crew of Coxswain Daniel Dunn ‘13, Steven Jones ‘10, Chas Waters ‘10, Connan Ingham ‘12, and Kyle O’Connor finished a close 11th.  This crew is hoping to improve their speed in an effort to again finish in the top three when it represents Kings Point at the prestigious Head of the Charles regatta next weekend.  

 

The Kings Point Varsity Women’s Double of Anna Simons ’12, Kacey Rohloff ’12, had some race difficulties and were unable to medal. The crew started the race strong and were leading most of the crew but then dropped back to finish 8th of 9 crews. This crew came off a medal winning performance last week but had difficulty when they experienced difficulties with the rough water. 

The Novice Men’s Eight came off a victory over 12 teams last week but was unable to repeat this week as they finished a disappointing 15th of 20 crews. The crew of Coxswain David Wong ’13, Chris Murphy ’13, Garrett Poncin ’13, John Wood ’13, Dustin Downing ’13, Garrett Fulton ’13, Brendan Rohr ’13, Kevin Woloscyk ’13 and Grant Johnson ’13 finished a distant 15th  amongst 20 crews. They had trouble during the race when they had difficulty handling the rough water and fell off the pace when one rower’s oar caught the water the wrong water and they slowed significantly.

The novice Women’s Crew of Coxswain Kate O’Connor ’13, Str. Emily Meehan ’13, Christi Gallo ’13, Elsie Domingues ’13 and Lauren Callahan ’13 were unable to replicate last weeks silver medal performance of last week and finished 6th of seven crews.

 Despite starting well and having what seemed to be their best race of the season the Novice Men’s four of Coxswain Daniel Dunn ’13, Str. Garrett Poncin, John Wood ’13, Sung Hyong ’13, and Brian Nichols ’13 ran into trouble midway through the race and were unable to keep with the leaders. In just their first race as a crew they rowed well and finished 12th of 14 crews.

 

The final crew of the day was the Varsity Men’s Eight of Coxswain David Wong ’13, Str. Thomas Gambill ’12, Mike Stocko ’10, Sam Diedrick’10,  Frank Osborne ’12, Andrew Pfarner, Jeremy Tunstall’10, Chris Murphy 13, and Drew Baldwin ’10. Despite great efforts and a solid race, the crew was only able to finish 22nd but did defeat threes crews. 

Overall, the team rowed to the best of their ability especially considering that it only rowed three times in last two weeks due to inclement weather. 

The team heads to Cambridge, MA for the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta on October 17-18. Four Kings Point crews will be vying for top honors on the twists and turns of the Charles River.

11 October 2009

Sonar Worlds Report






2009 Sonar World Championship – Sonar 753- by Dan Gillis, Class of 2013
Looking back, Sonar Worlds was a challenge and adventure for all of us on 753. The event started out bright and early on Thursday morning, when we met for the skippers meeting. A few last minute reminders and comments were made, and the crowd of anxious Sonar sailors made their way to the launches to be taken to their respective boats. We got to our boat, rigged up, and sailed out into the Sound. The conditions were less than ideal for a boat as light as ours (around 550 pounds)… lots of wind and 2-3 foot waves. Nonetheless, we pounded through three races on the first day.
After a few general recalls at the start, we found ourselves being covered by most of the fleet off the start line. We tacked out quick and tried to hitch out to a corner, but the momentum lost by the starting line doomed us for the rest of the race. We had great downwind legs helping us claw back slowly at the pack, but there was as lot of pack to claw through. We finished with a rather disappointing 45th place. The next race was more of the same. We got off the line in a decent position, chose our side, and fought for it. The side we chose, however, did not pay off, and we found ourselves again fighting for positions in the back of the pack. We did not progress as far forward as we would have liked to, and finished our worst finish of the Regatta with 51st. Race three was yet again more of the same story… it seemed that Mother Nature was fighting against our light boat every inch of the race course. We finished 46th and headed back to the harbor for much needed rest and dry clothing.
Day two showed little change from day one. The wind and chop made for less than ideal conditions. We played our sides well with the first race, caught some great shifts and lifts, but once again, found our-elves fighting for position at the back of the fleet. Race four was finished in 50th place. The weather was relentless for the rest of the day, and our sailing spirit could not help us past 49th place in race five.
Saturday brought what we thought would be much needed change. The day started out with decent weather, calm seas, and a promise of good sailing for a light boat like ours. After drifting around the Sound for a few hours waiting for the Race Committee to start a race (due to the lack of wind), we finally were able to start. With a decent start, we fought hard to win our side, crossing boats when we could and hitting every shift right, winning our side. Unfortunately, the side we won was not the favored side. We fought to gain footing on the fleet, and managed to climb to 45th place for race six. While waiting for another race to start, the sky darkened and opened up with a heavy downpour. The races for the rest of the day were abandoned, and we were towed back to the Harbor amidst a rather ferocious thunderstorm.
Sunday promised one last day for us to show the Sonar fleet what we were made of. It was sunny, light winds, clear skies, and calm water. We were exited to finally race in some conditions we enjoyed, and our crew worked best in. We made it to the starting line, and once again found ourselves at a several hour delay waiting for wind to fill in to start a race. It finally did, although not much of it was present, and the seventh race began. We banked our money on a cloud formation towards the right side of the course, which we were hoping would provide some extra breeze for us to power towards the mark. This wind, however, never materialized, and we found ourselves spending the good part of an hour trying to make it to the mark. With no boats making it within 45 minutes, the Race Committee abandoned the race, and we found ourselves out of luck and done with our Worlds regatta.
Throughout the event, we received many thanks for attending. It seems the Sonar Class really enjoys our presence, and all we do to help the class run some of its regattas. The Academy was thanked for providing two mark boats and members of the power squadron to operate them.
In all, the experience was one that the whole crew enjoyed. We were sailing with legends- former World and National champions, the best Paralympics teams in the world, Bruce Kirby, the designer of the Sonar, and so many other accomplished sailors. That we had a chance to compete with this impressive fleet was more than we could ask for, and that we had some good sailing only made it better. The 2009 Sonar World Championship experience was one that will be in our minds for long time.

07 October 2009

Days When We Just Cross Our Fingers.....

Because there is not much holding our Waterfront infrastructure together- come on new pier!!


06 October 2009

Shiphandling Training

It's great when you can give the RWO the con taking Liberator out on a windy day- here's how you do it.

05 October 2009

Diana takes 2nd, Renegade 2nd, and Hypnos 3rd in Light Air Greenwich Cup

The Offshore Team performed well in this weekend's light air on Long Island Sound, finishing high in this years Greenwich Cup. Skipper Pat Ambrose '10 aboard Diana managed to finish within the time limit to secure 2nd place, while Hypnos', skippered by Bubba Suggs '11, 3rd place on Saturday was enough to take the trophy.  I somehow missed Renegade, skippered by Logan Kolterman, which finished second!  Congrats to all the boats.  Also recieved a very nice email today- I love it when I get these!!

I thought you should know we sailed this weekend against three different boats from your school. Afterward one group came to the award ceremony. I must tell you these young men and women did a tremendous job representing themselves, the Academy and you. Not only we they tremendous sailors, they were also very polite, poised and well behaved. We happened upon two of the cadet’s in search of food for their team’s return trip. I ended up giving them a ride to and from the local grocery. All in all, your group elevated The Greenwich Cup and were a very positive influence on all involved.

Congratulations on having such a good group.

 

Sincerely,

PJ Connolly '12 Races aboard Courageous


We often get calls looking for Kings Pointers to crew on other boats- but not often do we get such a match. Courageous, a 12 meter that won two America's Cups raced this weekend in New York Harbor and needed a trimmer. So Courageous being the Rhode Island State Yacht what could we do but put a Rhode Islander aboard? Sounds like PJ enjoyed the sailing!

Also, thank you very much for the sail this weekend. It was by far, equal to the whole bi race week on vanquish, probably the best sailing experience I’ve ever had. The crew was incredible, I really learned a ton. Jamie was such a cool skipper, larry- a little out of his mind but really good, rich-awesome guy-guess owns a tricked out express, mike-the tender driver-probably the coolest of them all-great stories, matt-capt- is a great sailor-used to sail s boats. the boat was out of this world, the setup. Every tack and jibe was a real challenge, the loads were unreal. The pedals were really cool, towards the end I really got a hand of the transfer of the sheet and guy with the pedals. Also on layline when about to head downwind and attaching a second jib sheet and transferring the load so you could hook up spin was crazy. The crew helped me out a bunch. And trimming on a 12 was incredible, especially courageous. Thank you I really appreciate it.

Sonar World Championships



The 2009 Sonar Worlds, held in Noroton, CT, got off to a bumpy start for our Kings Point teams. Wind and large waves made the first two days difficult for our sailors who are used to practicing in the sheltered end of Long Island Sound. The last two days of the regatta were plagued by light air, with no racing on Sunday due to no wind. Congrats to our teams for competing in a World Class event. Thanks to the KP Power Squadron for operating the Committee boats.



Textile River Regatta



Kings Point Rowing
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Team Results
Textile River Regatta – Lowell, MA
October 4, 2009

The Kings Point Varsity Rowing team took home medals in three events at the Textile River Regatta. A total of seventy-nine teams competed in the regatta with over five hundred and twenty entries amongst all of the events.

The weather could not have been more perfect for the two and three-quarter mile race conducted in ‘head style’ format on the Merrimac River in Lowell. MA. The morning conditions were typically cool as one might expect of New England fall weather but the day warmed up toward early afternoon and so did the competition as colleges and clubs fought each other for top honors.

The strongest performance was posted by the Men’s Plebe crew which dominated a field of eighteen crews to win gold medals ad the title of top Freshman team. The crew of Coxswain –David Wong ‘13, Stroke-Chris Murphy ‘13, 7-Garrett Poncin, 6- Brad Woods ‘13, 5-Brendan Rohr ‘13, 4-Garrett Fulton ‘13, 3-Dustin Downing ‘13, 2-Kevin Woloscyk ’13, Bow-Grant Johnson ’13 placed first in a field of eighteen. It is the crew’s second victory of the season.

Assistant coach Daniel Udeanu commented after the race that “the Varsity Men’s Four and Eight rowed very well despite some difficulty with the steering mechanism on the four-man shell and some last-minute line-up changes with the ‘Eight-man’ crew. We will be ready for a great race next week”
The Men’s Varsity four of Coxswain Robert Kaldenbach 2011, Steven Jones 2012, Charles Waters 2010, Connan Ingham and Kyle O’Connor 2010 experienced some problems with the steering and raced well but finished 13th of 26 crews. The crew was expected to place better and is now anxious to race next week at the Navy Day Regatta in order to show what speed that they really have. This crew will be representing the academy in the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston in two weeks.

The Women’s Novice Four posted the best ever performance for Kings Point in this regatta with a second place amongst the eight college crews entered in this event. It was a fantastic race for the crew of Coxswain- Daniel Dunn ‘13, Stroke-Emily Meehan ‘13, 3-Kate O’Connor ‘13, 2-Casey Moore ‘13, Bow-Christi Gallo. The crew finished the course in 19:28. Crew member Christi Gallo commented after the race that the whole experience of racing and doing so well was ‘just incredible”.


The Men’s Lightweight Four of Coxswain Daniel Dunn,
Stroke 3-Garrett Poncin, Brian Nichols, Grant Johnson, and Sung Hyong rowed very well in capturing fifth in their first time racing in this category. Both Poncin and Johnson had raced earlier in the day with the Novice “eight” and were definitely tired after the second race. The ‘lightweights completed the course in 17:36.
The other medal-wining crew was the dynamic duo of the two women’s captains, Kacey Rohloff ’12, and Anna Simons ’12.
In finishing third overall but the first college crew, the women rowed their best race of the season. The posted time of 19:11 was their fastest of the season.

The Varsity Men’s eight completed the day with a fine row in the open eight category. With only one practice last week due to the poor weather conditions and having to substitute two new rowers into the crew due to the injury of two of it’s team members, the crew rowed a fine race and is prepared to do what it takes to be prepared for the last two races of the season.
The crew of Coxswain Daniel Dunn ’13, Str- Grey Gambill, Mike Stocko, Sam Diedrick, Jeremy Tunstall, Chris Murphy,
Frank Osborne, Drew Baldwin, and Brad Woods. The crew finished 13th and in a time of 15:27.