Posted on February 21st, look for next posting on March 6th
I head down to Charleston with the Boston University Sailing Team early tomorrow morning for a team race intersectional. When we scheduled the event, the plan was for the team to drive down. But times have changed in collegiate sailing, and the school administration has decided it is not safe for the team to make a drive of such distance. So we will fly. That’s fine with me, it makes life a lot easier. But it feels odd, and signifies the changing landscape of collegiate sailing. I did not graduate that long ago (1999), and only boarded an airplane one time for a collegiate regatta. That was the 1997 collegiate nationals, in Portland, Oregon (quite far from Boston). At the end of my freshman year of college, I remember totaling up the hours I had spent driving to sailing events for the year (for BU and outside of collegiate sailing), and it was over 9 solid days. Most people who sailed in college prior to the new millennium will say the same, and they have great memories of those road trips. I guess the same memories can be gathered from plane flights, but it is not as romantic.
Boston University Sailors Kyle Assad and Juliet Lewis competing at the Schell Trophy on the Charles River.
Regardless, it is exciting to see the start of a new collegiate sailing season. The Boston University Dinghy Team (BUDS) have a promising year in front of them. I look forward to going on this trip with them, and accompanying them to their spring break, which will also be in Charleston in mid-March.
The BUDS getting ready for spring break practice in 2005 at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL.
In other news …
Groupama flipped over near New Zealand earlier this week. A beam holding on their leeward hull broke off, and before they could gybe to make it their windward hull, it broke off completely, and then the boat capsized. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the boat is currently being salvaged. This is disappointing as the team was on a run to break the around the world record. The crew is optimistic, and they are anticipating their next attempt at the record.
Groupama III capsized near the New Zealand Coast.
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