Keelhaulers at the Kennedy Cup

November 9, 2010

Doug Webster of Cal Maritime Academy filed this report halfway through last weekend's Kennedy Cup:

Many of you who followed Cal Maritime's TeamUSA and their participation in the 2010 Student Yachting World Cup in France recently know that our right to represent the U.S. in that event was a result of our winning the annual National Intercollegiate Offshore Championships (The Kennedy Cup) last fall at Annapolis.

Well, hard on the heels of the Team's return from France after finishing fifth in the SYWC, several members joined other younger members of the Cal Maritime Sailing Team to compete in the Kennedy Cup, held as usual at Annapolis. And as every year, the winning team earns the right to travel to France the following year to compete as the U.S. Team in the SYWC, so lots is at stake.

The competition began Friday, November 5, just after noon, and three afternoon races were held in fresh northwesterly breezes of 12-18 knots. Nine teams were competing, all aboard Navy 44s supplied by the U.S. Naval Academy. The Cal Maritime squad got off to a sloppy start for the weekend with finishes of 7th, 5th and 3rd out of nine teams. That put them in fifth place after the first day of competition.

Saturday's second round produced another great day on the Chesapeake with five races and winds ranging from 035 to 340 degrees and 7-15 knots - ideal sailing weather. And it was a much more ideal day for Cal Maritime, which cranked out finishes of 1,1,6,1,2 for the day and jumped from fifth to second in the standings heading into Sunday's final two races. Standings after Saturday (including Friday/Saturday finishes) were:

1. Maine Maritime 2,1,1/2,5,2,3,3 19
2. Cal Maritime 7,5,3/1,1,6,1,2 26
3. Navy 1,2,4/6,7,1,9,1 31
4. Kings Point 3,3,2/5,2,6,7,5 33
5. Coast Guard 5,4,5/5,4,3,2,8 36
6. Mass Maritime 9,7,7/8,3,5,5,6 50
7. SUNY Maritime 4,10,6/8,6,7,6,9 56
8. Army 5,10,10/7,8,8,4,9 61
9. St. Mary's 8,9,9/9,9,9,8,4 64

Seven points can be a big gap to close with just two races remaining, but competitive sailors know it just takes one really bad race or really good race to change the picture suddenly.

Doug's final report the following day:

It was Maine Maritime’s trophy to win Sunday, heading into the final day of the 2010 Kennedy Cup National Collegiate Offshore Championship at Annapolis. Maine had a 7-point lead over Cal Maritime starting the day, which featured good 15-20 knot breezes under bright sunshine.

Maine wasted no time in nailing down their overall lead with a victory in the opener. Cal Maritime finished fifth and Navy came in second. That left Navy and Cal Maritime in a duel for second spot heading into the final race of the weekend. This time, the Keelhauler squad cruised to another win, while Navy was sixth, giving Cal Maritime the second spot in the tournament.

The team with their trophies. L-r: Scott Doyle '14, Jessica Schember '12, Dillon
Lancaster '14, Andrew Lamb '14, Nevin Garcia '12, Sara Himes '13,
Matthew Van Rensselaer '13, Kyle Vanderspek '13. ©2010 Charlie Arms

With their victory, Maine Maritime captured the right to serve as TeamUSA next fall in France at the 2011 SYWC.  And for Cal Maritime, with a mixture of veterans and young sailors, an overall disappointment at not repeating this year at Annapolis, but certainly signs of promise. The squad bounced back from a weak opening day, demonstrating that the skills are there. But this younger Keelhauler team will need to focus on consistency. As Maine demonstrated, at the top levels, the winners are those who make the fewest mistakes.

Final Scores:
1. Maine Maritime 2,1,1,2,5,2,3,3,1,4 24
2. California Maritime 7,5,3,1,1,6,1,2,5,1 32
3. Navy 1,2,4,6,7,1,9,1,2,6 39 20% IFP Race 4
4. Coast Guard 5,4,5,5,4,3,2,8,6,5 47 20% IFP Race 4
5. Kings Point 3,3,2,5,2,6,7,5,9,10 52 20% IFP Race 6, DNF Race 10
6. Mass Maritime 9,7,7,8,3,5,5,6,4,2 56
7. NY Maritime 4,10,6,8,6,7,6,9,8,7 71 20% IFP Races 4 & 8
8. Army 5,10,10,7,8,8,4,9,3,8 72 40% penalty Race 2, DSQ Race 3
9. St. Mary's 8,9,8,9,9,9,8,4,7,3 74

- Doug Webster, Cal Maritime Academy

You can check out play by plays at the team's Facebook page, 'Cal
Maritime Offshore Sailing'.