Who does the USCGA call for Safety at Sea Training?

Coast Guard Cadets learn distress signalling from instructor Ralf Steitz


Director of Offshore Sailing and Safety at Sea instructor Ralf Steitz traveled to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to teach an International Sailing Federation approved hands-on training course for Coast Guard Cadets who will be participating in this years Newport to Bermuda Race.

Dinghy Team Qualifies for National Championship

The Kings Point Dinghy team made their weekend cross-country trip worthwhile by qualifying for the 2008 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Championship Regatta. In varied racing the Kings Point team placed 7th in the Western Semi-Final regatta, hosted by the University of Southern California. The National Championship Regatta will be hosted by the New York Yacht Club in Newport, RI June 2-4. The Kings Point Waterfront is planning to have several boats travel to Newport for the Regatta. More regatta details to follow after the team recovers from their red-eye flight back to KP.

Results

Photos

KP Rowing- Metropolitan Championships

Erin Mitchell '08 and Megan Fahey '08 on the course

Erin Mitchell '08 and Megan Fahey '08 with Admiral Stewart

Kings Point Rowing
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Metropolitan Rowing Championships – April 26, 2008
Team results

Kings Point Rowers continued to perform well in the pairs competition on Saturday at the Metropolitan Rowing Championships. Capturing a silver medal and 4th places respectively, the women’s and men’s pairs demonstrated strength amongst local competition. The Men’s Varsity finished fourth in their heat which unfortunately took the crew out of the medals round. An event that initially started as a local championship amongst Metro New York teams, the regatta has expanded to include sixteen teams from as far away as Albany and included larger teams such as Army and Fairfield University. The team was privileged to have ADM Stewart attend the regatta. Midshipman Candice Vermillion ’08 and Allison Davis ’08 graciously volunteered to take ADM Stewart to the regatta in one of the waterfront vessels.


The Women’s Pair of Meagan Fahey ’08 and Erin Mitchell ’08 took a rather unorthodox route on their way to a silver medal when at the 750 meter mark of their race they were forced to row off course to avoid a collision. While sitting only a half boat length off the leading crew of NYU and even with Fairfield, our rowing mariners did what they had to complete the race with the best finish possible. Poor steering on the part of both Fairfield and NYU brought those three crews off course. At the 1300 meter mark, Mitchell and Fahey made the decision to stall their boat and move around Fairfield and back onto the course and a second place finish. ‘We could have been right with NYU if we had not been forced out by Fairfield” said Mitchell who is the crew member that steers the boat. While the crew finally settled in at the 1500 meter mark, there was not enough room to get back with NYU and continued to distance itself throughout the 2000 meter course. “They really looked stronger than they have in previous races; this was to be their opportunity to strike gold. They rowed really well but it was unfortunate that they got fouled’ said Coach Derek Hartwick following the race. Fairfield was disqualified.
The crew of Steven Jones ’10, and Kyle O’Connor ’10 experienced similar circumstances in their Varsity Pair race but this time due to the poor judgment of the race referee. At the 1000 meter mark, the referee directed Hofstra and Kings Point to change direction to avoid a collision with the poorly steering Iona crew; in so doing, the referee steered those crews toward a hazard which caused Jones and O’Connor to run over a number of fishing lines and to slow considerably. Not having raced on the waters near Orchard Beach before, the pair also had additional difficulties getting back on a straight course for the last 500 meters. “We could have finished second if we were not steered in the fishing lines”, said Bowman Kyle O’Connor.

While rowing fast and posting the best time yet this season, the Men’s Varsity Four was unable to get into the final in their event. The crew of Coxswain Sarah Jones Stroke - Kyle O’Connor ’10, 3-Steven Jones ’10, 2-Sam Diedrick ‘10, and Bow-Jeremy Tunstall ’10 had difficulty handling the severe chop during the first five-hundred meters of the race. When the crew finally found their stride, it was able to regain some lost distance but not able to get into a qualifying position for the final. “The crew’s time of 7:02 would usually get a crew into the final, but not on this day. I think that our crew was in the faster heat and we had some difficulty with the conditions. With some good training, we’ll be ready for next week” commented Coach Hartwick.



The Men’s Novice crew of Coxswain Jonathon Gardner Stroke-Andrew Pfarner, 3-Scott Norris, 2-Russell Marihugh ’10, and Bow-Romulus Cirone ’10 had a setback this week with one of the team members experiencing an injury that prevented the crew from competing. The crew is expected to compete in the New York Rowing Championships next weekend.



The team travels to Whitney Point, NY on May 3 to compete in the New York Rowing Championships.


Men’s Varsity Four
Winning Time: 6:44
1st Fairfield
2nd Iona
3rd Binghamton
4th USMMA 7:02

Women’s Pair
Winning Time9:01
1st New York University
2nd USMMA 9:21
3rd Iona
DSQ Fairfield

Men’s Pair
Winning Time:
1st Hofstra
4th USMMA

Kings Point Dinghy Team in National Semi-Finals

The Kings Point Dinghy Team set sail for Long Beach California last night- to compete in the National Championship Semi-Finals. In a new format change this year for the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association there will be two Semi-Final regattas to determine the teams that will compete for the National Championship to be held in Newport, RI in early June. The brackets for the two Semi-Finals are listed here. Check back here for updates on their progress throughout the weekend- and HERE for results.

KP Sailors Back from Miami

Nimbus #90 Rounds the Weather Mark Photo credit: Rolex / Kurt Arrigo
After a week of tough racing with the best sailors in the world the Kings Point Offshore team is back to KP and hitting the books to catch up from the week. The racing was great, and our team performed well, earning congratulations and respect from the top players in the sport. Pictures from the event.

Farr 40 Team Ready for the World Championship

The Farr 40 World Championship starts tomorrow, and the Kings Pointers aboard Nimbus Blue are ready- Comments from Helmsman M/N Chris Branning

Follow the action on the Official Site and the KP Team Site.

Practice between Pre Worlds and Worlds.Our time on the water between Pre Worlds and Worlds has been very productive. On Sunday the wind was uncooperative, even as we tried to find an early evening breeze at 5 pm. The day was spent mostly geared towards doing boat work and fixing a major problem with the wind instruments. Luckily the instrument issued has been put to rest and we now have accurate instruments we can trust.

Yesterday we spent a solid 5 hour day on the water, and really got a handle on our crew work. The breeze was everywhere from 18 knots all the way to 6 knots, but the majority of the day was spent in solid breeze which made the sailing an absolute blast. We really hammered out a lot of crew work issues and fined tuned our communication in the middle of the boat. The guys sailed absolute brilliantly as we lined up with another 20 boats for practice races and practice starts, mixing it up right away.

The starts were very compressed with a short line, and the races were only 1.4 miles up and back, which made for tighter than usual racing. Our boat handling was on par and as a team we made leaps and bounds on improvement in all areas.Our confidence has increased tremendously as we have now spent more time mixing it up with the best teams this sport has to offer. The team seems very hungry to hit this regatta running and pour everything we have into it.

As far as the sailing goes, it simply does not get more exciting than this. There is always a small battle to be won with the boat next to you, and placing well is a result of many small battles won which lead into a top finish. There are almost no breaks, no down time, or rest once the boat leaves the dock. The team is doing a brilliant job of staying motivated all day long, and we are ready for the event to begin.

Dinghy Team Finishes Fifth at America Trophy- Qualifies for National Semi-Finals

The Dinghy Team finished fifth this weekend at the America Trophy Regatta at Hobart and William Smith. This qualifies the team for the Inter-collegiate Sailing Association National Championship Semi-Finals to be held April 26th and 27th at the University of Southern California. Congrats to the Team!!

KP Rowing-Knecht Cup Regatta – April 12-13, 2008

Kings Point Rowing
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Knecht Cup Regatta – April 12-13, 2008
Team results

The Kings Point rowing Mariners met some stiff competition at the Knecht Cup Regatta in Cherry Hill, NJ over the weekend. This is one of largest spring competitions for college rowing, attracting over 50 schools from Maine to Florida and as far west at Wisconsin.

The Women’s Pair of Meagan Fahey ’08 and Erin Mitchell ’08 was the only Kings Point crew to make the finals. During a hard fought battle in the heats, the pair was able to finish 3rd which earned a birth in the final. Having won last week at the Manhattan Invitational, the pair was hoping to finish in the medals this week. “They really rowed well amongst this tough competition. This is the first time that a Kings Point women’s crew has made the final in this regatta.” commented Coach Derek Hartwick after the race. The crew will have two weeks to hone their racing skills in an attempt to win the Metropolitan championships.

“Our Men’s Novice Four rowed with such heart and great effort on Saturday” said coach Hartwick. The Kings Point Novice has had a tradition of doing well in the Knecht Cup. “The guys did their best to keep the tradition going but simply met very fast crews” Finishing 6th in their heat, the crew of Coxswain Robert Kaldenbach Stroke-Andrew Pfarner, 3-Scott Norris, 2-Tyler Hathcote ’10, and Bow-Romulus Cirone ’10 were unable to earn a spot in the final. The winner of their heat eventually went on to finish 2nd in the final race.

The Men’s Varsity Four of Coxswain Sarah Jones ’08, Stroke- Kyle O’Connor ’10 ‘10, 3- Steven Jones ’10, 2- Sam Diedrick ’10, and Bow- Jeremy Tunstall ‘10, raced well in their heat but narrowly missed making the final by 1.8 seconds. The crew nearly didn’t get to race when O’Connor experienced a sickness the day before the race and was barely able to complete the heat. “They raced well and will get faster for the next race”said Coach Daniel Udeanu, disappointed that his crew just missed making the final. With 5 crews finishing within 6 seconds of each other in the heats, it was tight to get into the final and the Kings Pointers were unfortunately on the short end of the stick.

ISAF Safety At Sea Seminar April 5-6

Jen Davis, Pat Gerometta, and Kitty Segert Launching SOLAS Parachute Flares

150 Sailors turned out for the overbooked ISAF Hands-on safety at sea seminar hosted by the Kings Point Waterfront this weekend. The course included practical training in damage control, firefighting, emergency signaling, emergency communications, heavy weather sailing, crew overboard recovery and in the pool practice with liferafts and PFD's. The waterfront team members did a great job of organizing both the seminar and the Prosser Team Race Regatta- A job well done by all or our sailors, power squadron and staff.

Manhattan Invitational Regatta – April 5, 2008

Kings Point Rowing
United States Merchant Marine Academy
Manhattan Invitational Regatta – April 5, 2008
Team results

Kings Point Rowing took home a gold and silver in the Manhattan Invitational Regatta which is attended by the strongest local teams. Battling for local honors was host team Manhattan College as well as Iona College, SUNY Maritime, Fordham University, Hofstra, and Sarah Lawrence.
Taking top honors in the Women’s Pair event were Meagan Fahey ’08 and Erin Mitchell ’08. Building on the fine performance of last week in the Murphy Cup in Philadelphia this dynamic duo dominated the field as they bested the field by nearly a minute. While having some difficulty with their course in the early parts of the race; complicated by the fast moving current of the Harlem river, the crew finally settled in, and continued to distance itself throughout the 2000 meter course. “They rowed so strongly and looked so consistent throughout the race, it was really terrific” said Coach Derek Hartwick after the race. This crew will meet its greatest challenge next week when it vies for medals in the highly competitive Knecht Cup Regatta.
Continuing with the strong performances in the Pairs was the crew of Steven Jones ’10, and Kyle O’Connor ’10. Not having raced in the pair prior to this race, the crew had some difficulty with steering. The Pair does not have a coxswain to steer the shell down the racecourse, therefore the rower sitting in the Bow seat must use a foot pedal to steer the crew down the course. “We probably rowed 200 meters longer then we had to”, said Bowman Kyle O’Connor. Despite the inexperience of racing in this event, the crew was able to stay with Hofstra till the last 500 meters. Hofstra was able to bring up the stroke rate and lead the Mariners by only 2 seconds at the finish line. Competing in the Men’s Pair also was the duo of Ricky Lagdon ’08 and Sam Diedrick ’10. Despite their great effort and strength, they fell to fourth despite having held 3rd throughout the first half of the race. Again, this crew’s inexperience in the pair got the better of them as the steering made it difficult for the crew to row a straight course and finish in the top three.

The Men’s Novice Four made great strides this week as it competed for the first time and had a strong performance despite not making the final. With one of the crew members, Andrew Pfarner ’11 only having started rowing three weeks ago, the crew had a great row and was excited about the prospects for the rest of the season. Following the race, Pfarner reminded Coach Hartwick that he had actually “only rowed three full practices on the water prior to this race” since the training conditions during the last two weeks at Kings Point have been very rough. The crew of Coxswain Robert Kaldenbach Stroke-Andrew Pfarner, 3-Scott Norris, 2-Tyler Hathcote ’10, and Bow-Romulus Cirone ’10 will meet stiff competition next week but they seemed ‘spirited’ following yesterdays competition and ready for the challenge.

Just one hour after battling in the Men’s Pair event, the men’s varsity combined forces to compete in the Varsity Four event. The crew of Coxswain Robert Kaldenbach Stroke-Jeremy Tunstall ‘10, 3-Sam Diedrick ‘10, 2-Steven Jones ’10, and Bow-Kyle O’Connor ’10, seemed a bit fatiqued and sluggish as they raced their heat in a effort to make the final. “Rowing 2000 meters against a very strong current early in the morning against good competition took a bit out of them; the competition were much more rested then our guys and we were unable to match their speed.” commented Coach Hartwick. In the early part of the season the team will often race more than one event to gain racing experience. The Varsity Men’s will attempt to recapture the cup in the Division II/III event next week at the Knecht Cup. It has been two years since it won that race and the team will focus on that throughout this week.

Although the Women’s Novice Four experienced a setback this week with the injury of one of their rowers; two of the crew members, Molly King ’11 and Janelle Kibler-Silengo rose to the challenge of racing in the Varsity Women’s four event with seniors Fahey and Mitchell. “Despite having to switch sides; port to starboard, Molly switched flawlessly and Janelle was very strong despite only have learned to row three weeks ago. They truly rowed like varsity rowers,” said Coach Hartwick. The crew stayed with the pack for the first 500 meters and then still held the eventual fourth crew until the 1750 meter mark. This was the second race for the pair of Fahey and Mitchell. The crew of Coxswain Robert Kaldenbach, Stoke Meagan Fahey, Erin Mitchell, Janelle Kibler-Silengo ‘ 11, and Molly King ’11 finished fifth, only 3 seconds from fourth place Manhattan College.



Women’s Pair
Time: Not recorded
1st USMMA
2nd Iona
3rd SUNY

Men’s Pair
Winning Time: 9:15
1st Hofstra
2nd USMMA
3rd SUNY
4th USMMA

Men’s Varsity Four
Winning Time: 7:32
1st Iona
2nd Fordham
3rd USMMA.

Men’s Novice Four
Winning Time: 7:07
1st Iona
2nd SUNY
3rd USMMA

Women’s Varsity Four
Winning Time: 6:40
1st Hofstra
2nd Sarah Lawrence
3rd Iona
4th Manhattan
5th USMMA
6th Sarah Lawrence

Prepping for the ISAF Safety At Sea Seminar

The Waterfront Staff is testing out this years improvements to the hands-on simulations- including a simulated fire below a yacht companionway.

Windy Practice

The Offshore Team practicing for the Safety at Sea Seminar, and the Dinghy Team enjoying a windy day on the water.

KP Rowing- Murphy Cup Regatta – Philadelphia, PA

Kings Point Varsity Crew started the spring season with some mixed results at the Murphy Cup Regatta in Philadelphia. The best result came with the Varsity Women’s Pair of Meagan Fahey ’08 and Erin Mitchell ‘08. This was the best performance by a Kings Point women’s crew to date in this regatta. A total of thirty-five teams competed in the regatta with over two-hundred and thirty entries amongst all of the events.

The weather was not ideal but was what one expects for the Schuylkill River at this time of the year; cold, windy and sometimes nasty. The morning conditions were seasonally cool as one might expect but the day got progressively warmer. A steady tail wind and a current moving down course combined to make for some quick races.

The Women’s Pair had a hard-fought race in the heat in order to qualify for the final. In edging out Carnegie Melon by less than a second in the heat and finishing only 2 seconds behind Fairfield, Fahey and Mitchell were able to garner a prime lane for the final. Despite having a great start in the final and racing in the top three crews for 600 meters, the pace was too quick for the Mariners and they fell a few seconds back by the 1000 meter mark. The inexperience of not having raced in the pair yet this spring made it difficult to respond to the challenge of the competition. While finishing 6th overall, the crew had a fine race and is expected to find even greater speed as the season progresses.

The Men’s crews started the season with some fine rowing but slow times. With poor rowing conditions over the last few weeks, the team has had difficulty getting enough time to build a racing rate. Both of Kings Point’s men’s crews were unable to qualify for the highly competitive Varsity Four final. With a full schedule of teams entered; twenty-three in total, our Mariners were able to finish third and fourth in their respective races but unable to capture the first spot that would have assured a spot in the final. The crew of Coxswain Sarah Jones ‘08, Stroke Steven Jones ‘10, 3- Kyle O’Connor ‘10, 2-Ricky Lagdon ‘08, and Bow- Sam Diedrick ‘10 completed the 2000 meter course in 7:30.
The mostly Novice crew of Coxswain Robert Kaldenbach ’11, Stroke Jeremy Tunstall ’10, 3-Scott Norris ’11, 2- Tyler Hathcote’11 and Bow Romulus Cirone ’10 races well but failed finish in qualifying position in the Varsity race. This crew will likely race in the Freshman category throughout the season and is expected to finish much higher in the standings as the season progresses. Their time was 8:02 for the mile and a quarter distance.

The Freshman-Novice women’s crew of Coxwain- Robert Kaldenbach, Stroke- Molly King ’11, 3- Kirstin Brewster, 2- Janelle Kibler-Silengo, Bow- Kathleeen McCarte had a good row on Saturday. With Kibler-Silengo having just started rowing three weeks ago, the crew is just beginning to find it’s stride. It should be a great season for this crew as they continue to improve e each week.

Kings Point rowing heads to the Harlem River on April 5th for the Manhattan College Invitational. Traditionally, the Mariners have done quite well at this annual event.

Team Report from LA Harbor Regatta

Although our team did not place well- they learned alot, and came out positive. The comment I heard most was that with the group never having sailed as a team before they were at a significant disadvantage until they were able to come together as a crew. What a great lesson learned. Here are some comments from the crew-

Patrick Gerometta KP 2008
Picture a crew of individuals which had never sailed together as a team before and place them in a situation where they were competing against other colleges. We started this regatta in that way. But by Sunday, we had come together very effectively as a team, and even though our position in the fleet did not reflect this, we really worked well together. The crew who had up to this point sailed primarily in the sheltered waters of Long Island Sound were not used to the conditions of the open ocean. Certain variables such as the swell, and the masses of kelp made things interesting.
The conditions throughout the regatta could not have been better. Every day started out with light wind, but it steadily built all day. It was sunny and warm in the afternoons around 70 degrees with the high on Sunday of 80 degrees. The boats themselves were fantastic for intercollegiate racing compared with the Navy 44’s. They were easy to rig, fairly easy to sail, and average in their ability to maneuverability.
I had never driven a boat with a wheel or a symmetrical spinnaker before and I must say it was a good learning experience. The racing itself was very close and I feel much more confident as a skipper than I ever have before. Our Coach at the event (Peter Must) was very knowledgeable and he helped us work better together, and because of this and the fact that he took time away from his vacation to coach us, he deserves a big thank you from the team.
Derrick Cherico KP 2011
Being put at a relatively new position on the boat helped me to learn about the whole process of sailing. I was able to learn and perfect that position very well. On top of that, being in the boat instead of up at the bow let me see how everything worked and how things really affected other things. For example, in tailing for the jib trimmer I was able to see the technique on how to properly trim the jib. The seniors were also able to explain how to use the tell tails to trim the jib. Compared to being on the Bow, I quickly found out that my position affected the bow and I was able to understand what problems were caused by certain actions. Finally, I know now that I needed to be more aggressive on trimming the guy. Once we practiced together a little, the team we had really meshed together and we sailed really well. Because of the little mistakes and tactical errors made, we were never able to do as well as we could have. It was a great learning experience that I hope I can have again in the future. It seems to me that I learned more while under pressure because I affected other people’s jobs while they affected mine.
Brandon Stardub KP 2008
Over the past weekend of sailing I personally got a better hold of how the boat operates as a whole. This includes the jib car positioning as well as some of the things to do to power up and depower the main; the position of mast/floater allowed me to gain extra knowledge that I would not have necessarily is able to grasp if I had been in a busier position. As a whole, I feel this regatta was run very professionally. The people running the regatta were very knowledgeable of the maritime industry as well as sailing; it was the best of both worlds. I think having Pete Must there as a coach was a big help as well, he is a very knowledgeable person and can bring things down to our level very easily. Overall I will say the team progressed greatly from the day of practice. If there were another two days in the regatta, I feel KP would have been more competitive in the later days.
Jennifer Davis KP 2008
Participating in this race was a great experience for us. We had the chance to sail in new waters with new competition. Overall, I learned more about tactics and boat handling (more so on the bow). It was a great regatta to start our racing season!