The Rams had three events on the dance card in Week 1
Penobscot Bay Open @ Maine Maritime
Toni Deutsch Women’s @ MIT
Mt. Hope Bay Open @ Roger Williams
The PBO was the highest priority as there were two qualification spots to the Danmark on the line for teams not already entered. Rachel Bryer with Fiona Christie and Matt Sola and Same Cushing with freshman crew Jack Hurley sailed for URI. Bryer, Christie and Sola turned in a super performance finishing 2nd in A Division, just 1 point off the lead. Cushing and Hurley finished 11th but finished with a solid set. The end result was 7th overall, not good enough to qualify the team for the Danmark, but better than last year’s 9th. With Matt Coughlin out with a broken arm and Caleb Armstrong obligated to be in a wedding (not his), we are pleased with the result.
The Lady Rams, minus Rachel and Fiona, were at the Toni Deutsch at MIT. This event was the first opportunity for the ladies vying for the B Division starting spot to show their stuff in competition. Mackenzie Needham and Emily Gayord had the A Division assignment and struggled throughout. Christina Lewis with Molly Lucyk started in B and started with 2 solid sets, but Lewis banged up an ankle in the 3rd set and was replaced by freshman Sarah Hermus with sophomore Sarah Leonard. Their introduction to the Charles featured a tough northerly with standard 80 degree shifts, but they handled the challenge beautifully with 7 single digit finishes in 8 tries. This team is poised to move up fast. Kaity Norton is the 4th Lady Ram challenging for a starting spot and she will get her shot next weekend at the Mrs. Hurst at Dartmouth sailing with Danielle Arpino. Norton has been one of our best crews for several years and is only now getting a real shot at skippering. Early results are promising.
The Mt. Hope Invite was a chance for lots of sailors to get some quality competition. We sent different squads each day. Patrick Penwell and freshman Hannah Scanlon were in A with Brad Carvalho and Nellie Hamilton in B on Saturday. Ian White and Courtney Bombardier were in A on Sunday with Matt Gibbs and Danielle Arpino in B. The squad had ups and downs to finish 8th in the 18 boat field. The highlight performance of the event was turned in by sophomore Gibbs who was getting his first opportunity as a skipper following a freshman year as a heavy crew. Gibbs and Arpino made the most of the opportunity with 3 top 5s in 5 races.
