UBC Sailing End of Term Recap

With the new year and new term approaching after two busy months for the team and all its athletes, here is a recap of the past months for UBC Sailing and a preview of what is coming next!
 
CICSA Nationals
 

The weekend of October 27th, four sailors flew down to Kingston, ON for CICSA Fleet Racing Nationals hosted by the Royal Military College of Canada. Through strong winds and chilly temperatures, Aidan Chiu (‘21), Emilia Clementi (‘20), Calum Macdonald (‘21), and Richard Minielly (‘20) sailed well to land UBC on the podium at third place. All athletes performed very well in what was a competitive fleet and were wonderful representatives of UBC TSC Sailing. Full scores available here.
 
ICSA Singlehanded Nationals
 
On November 2nd, team veteran Gabrielle Savage (‘19) flew down to Holland, Michigan to compete in ICSA Singlehanded Nationals. As the lone Canadian on the water, Gabby made UBC Sailing very proud due to her persistence and performance. She was able to hold her own in the midst of large swells and winds blowing over 30 knots despite injury. It was a wonderful opportunity both for Gabby and the team to be able to send an athlete to ICSA Singlehanded Nationals! Check out the full scores here.
 
North/North
 

The weekend of November 3-4, a women’s team of Lauren Wittkopf (‘22), Jennifer Vincent (‘21), Zelda Ladefoged (22’), Natalie Benoit (‘20) and a CoEd team of Richard Minielly(‘20), Matt Goguen(‘19), Nicolai Bladel (‘22), and Cypress Knudson (‘22) went down to Sail Sand Point for NWICSA’s fall ranking regatta. The weekend brought challenging conditions, with strong, shifty winds on Saturday and light, patchy winds on Sunday. All our teams put forth a valiant effort, and the team of Nicolai & Cypress managed to win an impressive five out of six races on Sunday. In the end, our coed team finished third and our women’s team finished sixth, which is on par with our performance over the past couple of years (full scores here). Given the strong performance by the newer athletes, the team looks forwards to improving in the coming years.
Frosh/Soph
 
For the final regatta of the season, seven sailors went to Bellingham, WA for the annual Frosh/Soph regatta hosted by Western Washington University. The wind was very light the whole weekend, so not many races got off. Nevertheless, the sailors in attendance — Erez Buyukyilmaz (‘21), Kayden Polachek (‘22), Aiofe Gannon (‘22), Liam Bontkes (‘21), Andrew Futcher (‘21), Benjamin Brown (‘22), and Nicolas Navarre (‘21) — had a great time and used the regatta as an opportunity to hone their racing skills.
Up Next…
In term two UBC Sailing is looking forward to travelling to warmer locales such as Hawaii to compete, hosting our annual Sea to Sky Regatta in March, participating in more team racing events, and of course continuing to develop in skill.