(Left to right) Atlantic Brugman '13 and Katie St. George '12 sailing on the Thames River this past fall. Photo by Atlantic Brugman.
While most of us have no doubt seen the white sails of our sailing team’s boats bobbing on the waters of the Thames River, most do not know of their progress and nationally-ranked success. The team, which is made up of both a women’s competition team and a co-ed competition team, competes in the New England Interscholastic Sailing Association. Head Coach Jeff Bresnahan, who has been at Conn for nearly twenty years, runs the program with the support of this season’s student leadership. Maggie Shea ’11 and Mike Marshall ’11 are senior captains, Peter Miller ’12 and Liz Wilsterman ’12 are junior captains, and Atlantic Brugman ’13 is underclassman captain.
The team has been progressing extremely well this season. Sometimes bearing through snow on ice-covered boats, the twenty-four Conn sailors had a spring break full of training and regattas.
For those who are unfamiliar with scoring in regattas, Brugman explains that, “Each event is usually eighteen different schools. If you place first, you get one point. Whoever has the least amount of points wins the regatta.” She went on to explain how regattas have two divisions, A and B, and that the results of each are factored together for scoring purposes.
They kicked off the two-week hiatus from classes by traveling to Maryland and competing at the Navy Spring Women’s Regatta. After a slow start, the women’s team finished fifth in the B Division with the help of Brugman, sailing as skipper, and crews Lucy Wallace ’13 and Wilsterman. Shea, who sailed with Stephanie Kapinos ’13 and Wilsterman, finished ninth in the A Division.
The coed team competed at the Wood Trophy at Salve and finished fourth all around, thanks to Wells Bacon ’11 and his crew of Ian Gordon Schottlaender ’14 and Mae Lortie ’11, who won the A Division, as well as Bitsy Whipple ’12, Claire Sacco ’12, and Steve Sweriduk ’12, who came in fifth place in the B Division.
The team as a whole then departed for a week of hardcore training at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. There, the team competed in their first intersectional team regatta, facing powerhouses such as Boston University and Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges. The Camels, with outstanding performances by David Rex ’14, Ben Bainbridge ’12, Harry Yates ’13, Kevin Lau-Hanson ’11, Kevin Martland ’14, Iraz Korezioglu ’11, Marshall, Miller, and Sam Parish ’13, finished in a solid third place by the end of the day.
The co-ed team sent three boats to the Coast Guard Acadamy’s Veitor Trophy on March 19 and 20. They battled both winds and adversity as Martland was injured in a capsize, Bainbridge fell ill overnight, and a chronic injury of Miller’s began to act up. However, by the end of the regatta, the team felt they had gained invaluable experience, especially for larger competitions approaching quickly in the season. Also that weekend, the women’s team traveled to the St. Mary’s Women’s Intersectional about which Brugman commented that “the women’s team performed very well.” Despite winds with gusts in the fifteen knot range, Shea and crew of Kapinos finished second place in the B division on the first day of competition, and Shea came back the second day to place third. Brugman, in her first A division race, placed seventh with crews of Wilsterman and Wallace. Overall, the team finished fourth, which gave the team a lot of confidence, as intersectional competitions in particular are fairly indicative of championship regattas at the end of the season.
Once back from break, the Camels put up strong performances at the Boston University Invitational, despite freezing temperatures, and went on to finish eighth at the Merchant Maritime Acadamy at King’s Point. Bainbridge, Sacco, Bacon, Whipple, Lortie, and Katrina Salk ’11 all contributed to a tough but solid showing.
Looking forward, Brugman concluded our interview by saying, “I have a lot of confidence in the team. I think there is a high chance of our three teams – team racing, the co-ed team, and the women’s team – making it to nationals.” Big upcoming regattas include the April 9-10 Women’s Presidential Championship at Boston University, which will determine whether the co-ed team qualifies for semis in California and nationals in Oregon, as well as the April 16-17 New England Championships.
