May 27-29 @ Navy in FJs
Erik Storck/Killarney Loufek, Andrew Loe/Betsy Bryant, Ben Sampson/Kate Hacker
Day 1: The format was similar to years past. The regatta was split into two groups, seeded by district qualification results. We we scheduled in the afternoon group and finished with a 4-1 record, our loss coming to Hobart/William Smith (#2 MAISA). We began the first round of 8 and only completed one race.
Day 2: Light and lumpy. It was memorial day, so the chop from the motor boat traffic was outrageous. We spent the entire day on a Colgate 26 and only sailed twice. Unfortunately, we raced our two biggest opponents and lost both races. A bummer.
Day 3: Great breeze in the river. As a team we showed up enthusiastic to sail, knowing we needed to run the table and get a little luck. We completed the round of 8 and sailed a complete second round. We finished a disappointing 5th.
Overall, I learned the importance of mental attitude, especially on a team. I think I was too bummed/worried about our second day performance and I probably impacted my teammates attitudes on day 3. I think we really were the best team there, yet we continued to make stupid mistakes. The combination of a lack of practice and a lack of a gung-ho winning attitude led to our ultimate demise. We went to win, when that was no longer an option we lost our motivation and dropped a bunch of stupid races. Painful.
On the upside, if I couldn’t win, at least my brother was the champion. St. Mary’s showed up to sail. They were fast, and polished. It showed and they are deserving champions.
