Ten teams made the trek to Jensen Beach for the 2012 V-15 Team Race Midwinter Championship. Most of these teams made the trip from New England to get a few good days of winter racing in Florida. Many sailors come down to this event to get some practice in during the collegiate sailing offseason, sailors from universities all over the country consistently sail this event every year in search of good racing and good fun.
Day One was beautiful with clear skies and 80 degree temperatures unfortunately there was no breeze to accompany the beautiful Florida sunshine. The teams spent the whole morning on the beach in postponement waiting for a sea breeze to fill in. Eventually around 2pm a light southeasterly filled and enabled the race committee to get the fleet on the water racing. One round robin was completed in a light breeze. After the first round round The Bristol Pistols composed of Ben Spiller, Colin Merrick, Mark Dineen, Anna Miniutti, Alyssa Seifert, and Kimberly Dempsey were winning. Closely following the Pistols were Black Tie Affair in second and The Camp Ho-Ho Conselours in third.
Day Two was a little bit colder and a more promising breeze forecast, the race committee scheduled two round robins to be sailed. After a long day of sailing in a northerly breeze the fleet hit the beach at around 5pm. The Bristol Pistols lost two races during the day but still remained quite dominant. The Black Tie Affair, Camp Ho-Ho Counselors, and Golden Arches rounded out the top four. Golden Arches composed of College of Charleston sailors made an impressive surge during day two climbing up tremendously in the rankings.
Day Three was cold and blustery. The sailors arrived at the sailing center and were greeted by 40 degree air and wind gusts over 30 knots. The race committee decided to abandon racing for the day, I do not think anyone in the fleet was severely surprised.The Bristol Pistols won the event followed by the Black Tie Affair and Camp Ho-Ho Counselors, composed of Hobart William Smith Students. Results can be found on the US Sailing Center Martin County's website.
Another great V-15 Midwinters was hosted by the US Sailing Center in Martin County. The entire fleet is looking forward to next year’s event and the great string of events scheduled for the summer.
Colin Smith
Brown University 2013
Picture L tor R:
Ben Spiller, Anna Miniutti, Colin Merrick, Alyssa Seifert, Kim Dempsey, Mark Dinneen