KP Dinghy Team in Wisconsin for National Championship Regatta

Follow the results here!

Vanquish Block Island Update

Awesome sail down the sound!  Boatspeeds near 15 knots, just through Plum Gut, headed for Block Island.

Starlight at the Start of the Block Island Race

Starlight and Vanquish Sailing in the Around Block Island Race

Vanquish at the start of last years Vineyard Race

The crew from Starlight crew will start their first race today after months of prep work turning a fancy day sailor into an offshore ready racing yacht.  Keep an eye out here for updates from the course.

Congrats to the first Licensed Members of the Class of 2010

Most Seniors are immersed this week in studying for next weeks License Exams- not so for M/N Jake Rugland and Casey Gilmore of the dinghy team, who have spent the week at the USCG Battery Park test center taking their test a week early in order to compete in the 2010 Intercollegiate National Championship Regatta being held next week in Madison Wisconsin.

Sights from a KP Afternoon

Putting the "Teeth" back in Growler

Moonrise Over KP

MARAD Staff and Summerwind Crew after a Sail on Baltimore Harbor

Acting Administrator Matsuda, Director of Congressional and Public Affairs Mrs. Cheron Wicker, and School Ship Program Manager Tony Margan with the crew of The T/V Summerwind.

Guest Captain of the day on Summerwind- Acting Maritime Administrator David Matsuda

Summerwind, Pride of Baltimore II, and N/S Savannah in Baltimore for Maritime Day Ceremony

Summerwind in Baltimore Harbor

Summerwind on a Reach

Main, Main Staysail, Fore, Staysail, and Jib

Windspeed 7
Boatspeed 5.5

USCG Captain of the Port of New York Comes for a Sail on Summerwind

Captain O'Brien, USCG COTP New York joined us for a wonderful Sunday afternoon sail aboard Summerwind, bringing along his wife, senior staff and thier families. Our midshipmen performed admirably, showing off their KP seamanship skills for the USCG.

Look Out Baltimore- Here Comes Summerwind

Summerwind will visit Baltimore this weekend on her first extended training cruise. Look for her Friday evening at the Living Classrooms Foundation dock at the foot of Caroline St., and Saturday at the Maritime Day event at Pier 13 Canton. Hope to see any area Alumni or prospective students come down and visit the ship!

First Annual pre-Dining In First Class Laser Regatta

Casey Gilmore retained the Dinghy Team’s honor by winning the first annual First Class Laser Regatta.  Kings Pointer Midshipman Master Chuck Floyd-Jones was close on his heals though taking 2^nd.

Growler Underway for Helicopter Training

We never pass up an opportunity to involve our midshipmen in great training- last week we were able to have the crew of Growler practice helicopter evacuations with the USCG.

Dad Vail Regatta Results

UNITED STATES MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY

KINGS POINT ROWING

WOMEN’S VARSITY FASTEST DIII CREW – MEN’S VARSITY SETS NEW KP RECORD

Dad Vail Regatta- May 7-8, 2010

Largest Collegiate Rowing Regatta

Competing Teams: 112

Athletes: 3800

Kings Point set two new ‘high marks’ at this years’ Dad Vail Regatta. The Varsity Men’s team qualified for the quarter-finals for the first time in the prestigious ‘Eight’ event while setting a new record and the women qualified for the semi-finals and finished as the fastest DIII institution.

While the Dad Vail Regatta is considered to be the national championships for small colleges and universities it is open to schools of all NCAA Divisions and indeed many from each division attend. Celebrating its 76^th anniversary, the Dad Vail Regatta attracted one-hundred and twelve schools and thirty-eight hundred athletes to this year’s competition. The crews arrived from states as far away as Washington, California, Florida and Maine to battle for medals and the distinction of saying ‘they are the best in the country’. “With as many as forty-nine crews entered in some events, the competition is very intense and that is why we come. We love the challenge”, commented Head Coach Derek Hartwick.

On the first morning of racing the racecourse conditions were ideal for fast times. The women were the first to progress to the next round. The crew of Anna Simons ’12 and Kacey Rohloff ‘12 rowed through the heats and easily into the semi-finals. “We did not have to push it. It was a good race and we are looking forward to the Semis” commented Simons following the early morning race. The crew posted the 12^th fastest time amongst 28 crews.

The early morning Semi-finals of the women’s pairs brought with it almost ideal conditions again for the second day. The Kings Point pair was able to stay within striking distant of qualifying for the first half but experienced some steering issues that made it difficult to regain the ground and qualify. The Mariners finished 5^th in the Semi and just missed qualifying for the final. Despite the disappointment, they defeated many DI and DII teams and were the fastest DIII crew of the regatta. “It was a good season for this crew; they finished third in the Metros, second in New York and had a very respectable finish here. Their time of 8:22 in the heats was terrific.” relayed Hartwick following the race.

The Men’s Freshman Four of Coxswain David Wong, Stroke Brendan Rohr ’13, 3- Garrett Poncin ’13, 2-Chris Murphy ’13, and Bow- Brad Wood felt that they rowed their best race of the season despite not making it past the first round. “They rowed very well and their time of 7:46 was their best time of the season but unfortunately not fast enough to get into the final round”, remarked Coach Hartwick of his crew. While not qualifying for the finals, the crew did defeat fellow Landmark Conference team Catholic University.

The Kings Point Varsity Men’s Eight Crew of Coxswain-Greg Acker ’13, Stroke - Steven Jones ’10, Charles Waters ’10, Thomas Gambill ’12, Dustin Downing ’13, Connan Ingham ’12, Sam Diedrick ’10, Frank Osborne ’12, and Kyle O’Connor ’10 were ready for the challenge of racing thirty of the best crews in the country. In the qualifying heats, the Mariners set a new Academy record for the 2000 meter distance and improved their previous season best-time by nine seconds as they completed the course in 6:10 and qualified for the quarter-finals.

Encouraged by the potential and enthusiasm of the varsity men, Hartwick and assistant coach Daniel Udeanu embraced the idea of racing in the competitive category of the Varsity Men’s Eight. “It’s a first time for us entering a Varsity Eight, only thirty teams were accepted and we were one of them. We felt really good about this group and they really excelled.” said Hartwick about the varsity men. The early spring races were difficult with the crew trying to gain some speed since nearly half the crew had just returned from four months at sea. As the season progressed, the crew was able to gain momentum and capture a key race. “We were excited to win the Knecht Cup this year. It was a big win and we are proud of that.” said Udeanu. With that victory, the crew charged forward and continued to find its’ speed as it placed well in the NY State championships and amongst the top three in the New York Metropolitan region.

With the caliber of the crews at the Dad Vail regatta, the team knew that it would be quite a challenge to make the final. Undeterred, the crew approached the competition with confidence and a ‘do our best’ attitude. In the heats, the Mariners rowed well and finished within seconds of DI schools Ohio State and George Mason. Qualified for the next round, the crew then set their sights on getting through to the Semi-finals.

As the conditions changed throughout the day on the race course so did the times. Despite a full effort on the part of the Kings Pointers, the crew was unable to match the speed of qualifiers, Georgia Tech and St. Josephs but was only two and a half boat lengths back. In the final tally, the rowing Mariners were the 4^th fastest DIII school of the regatta. To the delight of the large crowd of spectators, the Kings Point men decided prior to the race that however they finished, they would do something at the finish to celebrate their successful season. As the crew completed the race, they held the oar to the gunwale with one leg as they raised her hands in the air and cheered wildly. The delighted crowd laughed and cheered as they acknowledged the display of the Kings Pointers’ elation at a season ‘well rowed’.

U.S.M.M.A . RESULTS

Women’s Pair

12 of 28 crews in regatta

Time: 8:22

1^st place amongst DIII schools

Freshman/Novice Men's Four

6th Place in Heat

Time: 7:46

1^st place amongst Landmark Conference Schools

Varsity Men's Eight:

5th Place in Repechage

4th place amongst DIII schools

Time: 6:10

LT Todd Vorenkamp, USCG KP'96 Saves a Stranded Hiker

See the interview from the Today Show.

Vanquish First to Finish EDLU Race

Midshipmen Gillis, Nielsen, Reeves, Prahl, and CDR Gasiorek accept the awards for Best Elapsed time.

Vanquish sailing under storm trysail and number 4 jib

Saturday aboard Vanquish a a veritable world tour of sailing in a day.  The races started with a downpour of rain and thunder, turned into a light air beat, then a few hours of drifting in no wind, a short spinnaker run, followed by a beat into strong westerlies.  Top windspeed- 48 knots, and what a day to practice sailing under a storm try!

Starlight on Her Shakedown Sail

Top speed 14 knts with a reef- Bermuda here we come!

Before and After

Skipper Jeff Musselman '12, his crew, and the Waterfront Staff have done an amazing job restoring the 1981 Ocean sportfishing boat over the winter, and yesterday we put her in the water. Look for a naming poll soon.

NY State Championship Results

NEW YORK ROWING CHAMPIONSHIPS

WOMEN TAKE SILVER – MEN QUALIFY FOR GRAND FINAL

May 1-2, 2010

The Kings Point Varsity Rowing team had a strong showing at the New York Collegiate Rowing Championships. Kings Point brought home a silver medal in the Women’s Pair, a sixth place with the Novice Men’s Four and a 2^nd place in the Men’s Varsity Eight Petite Final.

The New York Championships attracts 28 of the best New York college teams from Buffalo to Long Island. Nine-hundred athletes compete for Championships titles in men’s and women’s Varsity and Novice categories.

The Women’s Varsity Pair of Anna Simons and Kacey Rohloff won the regatta in 2009 and came back this year to do the same. The Kings Point rowers came into the regatta ranked first based on strong results from previous competitions. The crew set to work early in the race by capturing the lead in the first few strokes of the race and refused to relinquish that lead until the last few strokes of the race when the Kings Pointers misjudged the finish and stopped rowing before the finish line. Hofstra took advantage of the misstep and rowed past them to win by .8 seconds. Simons and Rohloff were clearly disappointed when they realized how the mistake had cost them. The crew will be vying for Gold when it races next week at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia.

The Men’s Freshman crew of Coxswain Greg Acker, Stroke Brendan Rohr ’13, 3- Garrett Poncin ’13, 2-Chris Murphy ’13, and Bow- Brad Wood felt that they had redeemed themselves from last week when they were unable to qualify for the final at the Metro Championships. The crew rowed strongly in the heat and as Coxswain Greg Acker said “they coasted to the finish because they had no problem qualifying and I wanted them rested for the final”. Qualifying for the Grand final, the crew rowed well and finished in the sixth position. “They really had a great race and posted their best time of the season. I’m very pleased with how they are coming together and improving in leaps and bounds” commented Coach Derek Hartwick of his crew.

“This is the first spring that we have competed with a Varsity Men’s Eight and the one we have rowing is really a great crew” commented Hartwick. Coming off a first and a fourth place finishes in the previous two races, the crew was hoping to crack the top six and qualify for the Grand Final. “It was not their best race in the heats but today they really came together and rowed a wonderful final race by taking 2^nd”, commented Coach Daniel Udeanu on the crews’ performance in the Petite final. The Petite final is for the 7^th through 12^th place crews from the heats. The Kings Point crew of Coxswain David Wong ‘13, Stroke Steven Jones ‘10, Charles Waters ’10, Thomas Gambill ’12, Dustin Downing ’13, Connan Ingham ’12, Sam Diedrick ’10, Frank Osborne ’12, and Kyle O’Connor ’10 were able to jump out to an early lead with close rival the University of Rochester. The two crews were able to hold the two top spots from the first strokes until the finish with Rochester holding a small lead but with the tenacious Kings Pointers not letting Rochester row away and certainly not relinquishing any lead they had over the rest of the field. At the finish there was only a five second margin separating Kings Point and Rochester. Kings point posted a time of 6:24 for the 2000 meter distance.

The rowing Mariners take to the water again on May 7-8 in the Dad Vail Regatta. The Dad Vail Regatta is considered to be the National Championship for the small colleges and Universities and will be the last race for the Spring 2010 season.

Dingy Team Qualifies For National Championships

Congrats to the KP Dinghy Team for qualifying for the National Championship Regatta.  They will be on their way to Wisconsin for the Championship Regatta to be held June 1-3rd.

Link to Pics and Video

Dinghy Team at National Semifinals in Charleston

Down to the wire on day 1- KP sitting in 9th place- top nine teams advance to the the College Nationals!

Follow the results here!