Sunday, January 31, 2010

D7 sailors at the 2010 Rolex Miami OCR

District 7 sailor Rob Crane (Darien, CT) finished 15th at the 2010 Rolex Miami OCR. Rob was one of only two laser sailors representing the US to break into the top 20!

Out of 104 competitors in the standard laser fleet only 18 were sailing under USA. The competition was stiff and the conditions super shifty making for a very tactical regatta.

Other sailors representing D7 were John Pearce (Norwich, VT.) and Ben Leibowitz (Stamford, CT.)

For the full results go to:
http://www.ussailing.org/Rolex/2010/laser/laser.html

As far as the Women's Radial fleet...I didn't know who, if anyone, was from D7.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Matt Gowell of D7 takes 3rd place at the 2010 Cressy Trophy!




The Cressy Trophy is the high school national single-handed championship in which the best have had to qualify from the 7 high school districts across the US in order to meet up to compete in the Cressy.

After winning a super windy qualifier on Narragansett Bay, Matt Gowell of Rhode Island traveled to Corpus Christie, TX to compete for the Cressy Trophy in ultra light and shifty conditions. He's a tall kid but obviously talented in all conditions.  I am sure that Matt would have preferred windier conditions but he hammered it out to take home 3rd!

Not only is Matt a great sailor, he flew home from the Cressy to help his soccer team go on to win the RI Division ll State Championship. Matt's success on the soccer field earned him a spot on the "First Team All-Division"roster as well as a spot on the "All Tournament Team."

Also representing New England at the Cressy in the standard division:  Gabe Salk, James Barry, Christopher Aitken and in the radial division: Pearson Potts, Nick Johnstone, Oraine Longerstaey and Elizabeth Dubovik.

Past winners of The Cressy Trophy are Clay Johnson (2003), Andrew Campbell (2001, 2002)) Page Railey (2004, 2005) and Brad Funk (1997) just to name a few!

Scroll through the high school sailing archives and you will find many D7 names!
http://www.highschoolsailingusa.org/NationalsResults/trophyHistory.htm



Photo credit: Tom Monkus

Thursday, January 21, 2010

D7 sailors finish in the top five at 2010 Caribbean Laser Midwinters






District 7 sailors Peter Shope, Mike Matan and Peter Seidenberg showed their stuff in the heavy air and big swells off of Cabarete in the Dominican Republic. D7 took home 3rd, 4th and 5th places in the standard rig division.

Peter Shope of Newport's Laser Fleet 413 took home 3rd place after losing in a tiebreaker for 2nd place to Ari Barshi of the Dominican Republic. Mike Matan of the Cedar Point laser fleet finished 4th and Peter Seidenberg, also of Newport's Fleet 413 took home 5th overall as well as 1st GGM.

Nothing like stretching your comfort zone by stepping out and competing in places with conditions like those found in the Dominican Republic! Nice job guys!

For those who might like to train in such conditions check out the hot Laser training spot: http://www.caribwind.com

Also…if you have family that doesn’t want to sail but is up for the vacation while you sail…I hear it is a GREAT place for everyone! 







(Photos: Robert J. Alvarez)