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December 2004 Tell Tale
Volume 58, Number 6 November 2004
Area East Elimination
At Hope College
11/6/04
It was a beautiful, sunny, clear day with visibility up to 10 miles. The temperatures stayed in the mid-50s all day with winds between 8 and 14 knots and occasional gusts up to 20 knots. The regatta was run in 420s just off the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club. One and two lap windward – leeward courses with a mid-course starting line were run for the duration of the regatta. The regatta had 11 rotations, 22 races total. Hope College would like to thank the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club for the use of their wonderful facilities, The Bergmans for doing race committee, The Kiss’ and Roger for judging and helping out around the club, George Griswold, Papa John’s Pizza, Good Earth Bagels, and all the participating schools who made this regatta so enjoyable.
School A B Total
1. Michigan 25 24 49
2. Miami 42 51 93
3. Michigan State 53 45 98
4. Ohio University 56 51 107
5. Indiana 60 47 107
6. Ohio State 40 82 122
7. Purdue 50 79 129
8. Notre Dame 95 46 141
9. Western Michigan 89 84 173
10. Hope 98 98 196
11. Denison 118 119 237
A Division
School Total
1. Michigan 25 Matt Vanderpool 06/ Katie Dewitt 07 1-10;Tom Martin
05 11
2. Ohio State 40 Conor Hawkins 08/Joe Minerd 07
3. Miami 42 Jocelyn Pollak 07/Anne Simiele 06 1-10; Doug Baker
08 11
4. Purdue 50 Carlos Abisambra 07/Sean Kennedy 06
5. Michigan State 53 Rob Linden 06 1-6,9-11;Casey Ray 08 7-8; Megan
Walter 06
6. Ohio Univ. 56 Karl Felger 07 1-10; Anne Rice 05 11/ Anne Rice 05
1-10
7. Indiana 60 HJ Richardson 05/Lucy Kammer 08
8. Western Michigan 89 Geoffrey Lindenberg 06/ Blair Kommel 06
9. Notre Dame 95 Chris May 08/Amy Becker 07 1,2,5,6,9,10; Bryan Marek
07 3,4,7,8,11
10. Hope 98 Robert Croswell 07/Trinity Scruto 05 1-4,9-11;
Charlie Sierzant 07 5-8
11. Denison 118 Abigail Bacon 05/Rebecca Stapley 08
B Division
School Total
1. Michigan 24 Christina Falcone 07 1-8;Chris Granger 07 9-11
Meredith Cochran 06 1-8;L. Vandenbosche 07 9-11
2. Michigan State 45 Mary Vorel 05/ Steve Griffith 08
3. Notre Dame 46 Tim Ray 08/Kerry Lalbourn 07 3,4,7,8,11; Kat Subloff
07 1,2,5,6,9,10
4. Indiana 47 Mike Schmid 06/Jen Gaker 05
5. Miami 51 Nicole Finefrock 05/ Doug Baker 08 1-5;Brian Streng
07 6-11
6. Ohio Univ. 51 Mark Paisley 05/Eric Milliman 07
7. Purdue 79 Charlie Rush 06/Adam Namamere 06
8. Ohio State 82 Voe Groszek 08/Matt Nunn 04 1-10; Joe Minerd 07 11
9. Western Michigan 84 Chris Koch 07/ Emily Freed 07
10. Hope 98 N. DeYoung 07 1-6;M. Palma 07 7-11/K. Huges 05 1-6;
C. Dostal 06 7-8;K. Hoffman 08 9-11
11. Denison 119 E.J. Freeman 07/Tyler Blair 07
February in Chicago
Strictly Sail and Midwinters again?
Jane Ventresca
Coming off of two wonderful weekends in Chicago I can’t help but have my head filled with a tune and a little line from Frankie, “My kind of town Publicity Secretary Chicago.” With successful weekends of sailing and fun at Northwestern’s Blow Harder Regatta and the annual Timme Angsten Memorial Regatta, Chicago has played a critical role in the MCSA’s November. As we travel home in the next two months to spend time with family and friends (or in Anna Rice’s OU 05’case in a bunny costume on the slopes of Colorado) I want to let you in on to a little Secret. During the month we all know and love, the month of love (and my half birthday) Chicago will yet again play a critical role in the MCSA. Both the Strictly Sail Boat Show and the MCSA Annual Midwinter Session will be taking place in Chicago the weekend of the 4-6th 2005. As far as the Annual Midwinter Session, we should all be experts especially seeing as though it will be held at the same Courtyard by Marriot (they must be under new management) as last year, however I do need your help in making our first MCSA booth at Strictly Sail Chicago a success.
Victorian Coffee Urn
At Harvard
October 30-31, 2004
Saturday: South 2-6 knots. Windward-Leeward with a gate! Red Sox victory "Rolling Rally" at lunch time. Pedro Martinez got beaned by a baseball 50 yards past the sailing center. Theo Epstein called out Bobby Koar from Roger Williams for wearing his Yankee cap.
Sunday: Beautiful weather. 70 Fahrenheit. West wind 6-17 knots. Gold Cups T-W's. Harvard dominated. Congrats to the AC Qualifiers.
Special thanks to Dan the man Litchfield, Jess Bakerrr, Cardwell "Pontchartrain Kid" Potts, Matt "Naughty" Knowles, Clemmie "Slugger" Everett and all the Crimson. Thanks also to BU for their FJs. Regatta Chair was Mike O'Connor. 16 races were sailed in each Division.
A B TOT
15/16. Wisconsin 169 186 355
A Division
13. Wisconsin 169 Anne Porter 05 All/ Anna Bargren 07 1-14,Kelsey
Kramer 07 15-16
B Division
15. Wisconsin 186 E Prange 07 1-4,9-14 Schmidt 08 5-8 15-16 Kelsey
Cramer 07 1-4,9-14,A.Schult 05 5-8,15-16
Experiences as a Student Coach
David Elwood
How can a team without a full time paid coach ever succeed in the world of college sailing? A quick check of the sailing world top twenty shows that varsity teams with professional coaches are at the top of the national rankings. For those of us without the funding to pay for a full time coach, life looks pretty bleak. Unfortunately getting funding from your college or alumni often requires making you team more competitive. It’s like trying to raise a chicken without an egg.
So the new question becomes, “How can a team increase its competitiveness without hiring a professional coach?” One answer is the student coach. Over the years the Michigan Sailing Team has been blessed with some very talented student coaches. They have ranged from collegiate all Americans, among the likes of Pete Levesque and Caroline Hall, to fifth year seniors who squandered their collegiate eligibility while failing vector calculus. Whatever the level of experience, student coaches help bring structure to practices, ease the logistics at events, and provide objective diagnostics of individuals’ sailing.
Perhaps the most important function of a student coach is to provide disciplined and structured practices. Budgeting time at practice into set drills help make the most out of limited practice time. If your team practices a couple times per week it is essential that the practice time is used to its full potential. Starting the day with a short warm up followed by focus on a set skill provides direction for each practice. Ending the practice with some sort of competitive racing helps to drive home the benefit of the day’s drills. Just having someone out in a powerboat providing instruction and feedback will make practices much more effective. A good course to run with a single powerboat is a windward leeward times two with a finish at the top. This allows the coach to run a start, pull anchor, watch the first beat, and set up for the finish. With only two marks, the course is hardly ever off square. A good outboard driver can sometimes hold the boat at the finish without setting an anchor.
Another important, and perhaps overlooked, function of the student coach is to ease logistics at events. Having a member of the team dedicated to coaching means that none of the sailors have to drive to the event, buy food for the team (if out of the MCSA), or wake everyone up in the morning. A student's coach can make sure that boats are rigged and meet the sailors after the regatta and break down equipment. Making sure that food and water are available to the sailors between sets can help keep competitors performing at their best. Taking the burden off those that are sailing gives them one less thing to think about. If the sailors on the team are free to focus solely on sailing, their performance will increase substantially.
Finally, a student coach can provide objective diagnostics of the sailing performance of other team members. Having someone running practices from a powerboat gives them the ability to judge the relative performances of team members when it comes time to decide who will be sailing in the big regattas. Otherwise it is up to the team captains, who are sometimes the best sailors, to decide who will be sailing each event. This can lead to a conflict of interest which then will cause more stress for on the team’s top sailors, decreasing their level of performance. At events a student coach can see things on shore that even the best sailor could miss out on the water. Watching a race from the comfort of the beach gives you the benefit of a bird’s eye view of the racecourse. This can prove invaluable when deciding strategy in a regatta.
In closing, I would encourage teams that are looking to increase their level of competitiveness to consider the benefits of designating a team member to become a student coach. They increase the structure of practices and offer both logistical help and objective assessment of team member’s sailing. Student coaches can help to bring your team to the next level. Even if you can’t find a great sailor to help you as a student coach remember the old adage, “those that can’t, coach.”
If you have any questions about how to recruit a student coach (grad student, undergrad, or otherwise) or just want tips on running effective practices drop me a line at delwood@umich.edu or 734-255-1495. Below are a couple of drills that have worked well for me this semester as U of M’s student coach.
Boat Handling:
Mark Holding- Coach sets one mark per two boats. The first boat moves to within one boat length of the mark to leeward. The goal is to stay within one boat length of the mark without passing to windward for as long as possible. The second boat waits for the first to move outside of one boat length and then moves in for their turn at the drill. This semi-competitive drill allows sailors to learn from each other while promoting friendly competition. It can prove invaluable at the starting line.
Playing the shifts:
Rabbit and Hamster- Coach sets one mark to windward of the fleet. Have everyone line up for a rabbit start (all boats on same ladder rung stopped on starboard). Designate one boat as the rabbit and have them sail out from the fleet on starboard. On the whistle the rabbit tacks to port and crosses the boats stopped on starboard tack. They sail to starboard lay line, tack, and sail to the mark. The first boat crossed by the rabbit is designated the hamster. The hamster sails to the port tack layline, tacks, and sails to the mark. All other boats play the shifts. Ideally the boats playing the shifts will dust the rabbit and hamster to the windward mark. Having your two “fastest” boats be the rabbit and hamster really drives the point home.
Mark Roundings:
Dastardly Diamond- Coach sets four marks in a diamond pattern (two marks set perpendicular to the wind, two set parallel to the wind). Fleet sails clockwise around the marks. This provides the fleet with a windward, wind, and leeward rounding in short order. Since there will always be traffic everyone will have to know and enforce the rules of roundings. I usually set the marks so that there is only a couple of boat lengths to sail before entering the two boat length zone for the next rounding. The bigger the fleet, however, the bigger the diamond will need to be.
Area West
At Wisconsin
11/6-7/04
With an eventful day on the water with breakdowns ranging from snapped tillers to broken and lost rudders, 20 races were completed in total. The breeze picked up on Sunday, starting at about 15 knots and building to 22 knots with gusts to 27 knots before dying down to about 18 at the end of the day. Temperatures were in the 50's and it was sunny all day. No protests were filed, but there were two requests for breakdown.
A B TOT
1 Univ of Wisconsin 30 15 45
2 Northwestern 27 25 52
3 Univ of Minnesota 25 30 55
4 Marquette 35 34 69
5 Washington 51 61 112
6 Univ of Chicago 67 67 134
A Division
TOT
1. Univ of Minnesota 25 Ben Burgum '04 / Jenny Wilson '06
2. Northwestern 27 Brian Sabina '05 /Ace Church '07
3. Univ of Wisconsin 30 Anne Porter '05 1-6, Matt Schmidt '07 7-10 /
Patti Schmidt '08 1-4 7-10, Missy Barry '06
5-6
4. Marquette 35 Christopher Williams'06 1-4, ChrisAcker'07
5-10 / Renee Jacobs '06 1-6, Barrett Willich
'08 7-10
5. Washington 51 Frank Beiling '08 1-6 /Kim Liao '07 1-6
6. Univ of Chicago 67 Adrian Cook '06
B Division
TOT
1. Univ of Wisconsin 15 Scott Eisenhardt '06 1-6, Aaron Mann '07 7-10
Kelsey Cramer '07 1-6, Liz Prange '07 7-10
2. Northwestern 25 Brandon "The Chief" Keao '07 /Erin Miller '08
1-6, Anne Hodges '08 7-10
3. Univ of Minnesota 30 Alexander T. Symes '04 / Kelsey Dunnigan '08
4. Marquette 34 Hunter Ratliff '05 / Cate Muller '06 1-8,
Chris Estes '08 9-10
5. Washington 61 Graham Walker '06 1-6 /Karin Stensvad '06 1-6
6. Univ of Chicago 67 Benjamin Gage '06 1-6
Looking Back and Moving Forward
Aaron Mann
Off-season activities are critical in maintaining your team while not sailing and assuring you are ready for the spring season which is shorter and more intense.
The lessons that you learn from season to season are the most important. What’s more, finding your team’s weaknesses and addressing them will help your team in the long run. Did your team attend all the regattas it signed up for? Were you happy with how you performed? Is your team having fun? Discuss these issues and more within your team and find ways to improve for the spring.
Entering the spring season prepared and energized is key. Here are a few suggestions for teams either regrouping or trying to maintain its momentum created after the fall (not in any specific order):
- Continue team events: Holding team meetings, though not as often, are still helpful. In addition, a team’s social dynamic is extremely important. Keeping up contact with the team is not only great fun, but also helpful in maintaining continuity throughout the year.
- Go sailing: Cut out the ice from your lake and throw the boats together. Oh wait, just kidding. Instead, check out the available out of district berths down south. There are plenty. Another suggestion: Organize a Spring Break trip either out east or down south. There are opportunities to practice with east coast teams and then attend an intersectional on the weekend.
- Attend Midwinters: The MCSA’s annual midwinter bash is always a good time. More importantly, this is where the business of our district takes place. Remember, if your team is a regular member, your attendance in required. The annual meeting, open forum, and scheduling meeting all take place. Bring as many people as possible. This is an excellent opportunity to get teammates involved in the operations of your team. Northwestern has promised another great event in Chicago this upcoming February.
- Work out: On the third day of Timme’s my coach reminded me that if it doesn’t hurt, you are not sailing hard enough. It made me think of how much I could have been working out throughout the season. Now with no sailing to take your time, there are no more excuses to not get in shape. Sailing is a sport and team workouts are a great way to get everybody in shape and keep the team focused and together on a regular basis.
Take as many lessons from this past season as possible and apply them to the spring. Also, keep your team active, focused, and having fun in our “time off”. See you in Chicago at Midwinters!
2004 Timme Angsten Memorial Regatta
The Chicago Yacht Club
Friday Nov. 24 - Sunday Nov. 26
The Timme Angsten moved to its new venue this year. The Monroe Street Harbor provided a much larger sailing area with much steadier winds. The Yacht Club still provided spectators a good view of the race course.
Friday saw a cloudy sky with a bit of drizzle from time to time with temperatures in the upper thirties. The wind was 8 – 12 from the southwest which made conditions a little shifty near the weather mark but kept the waves down. The rotations were made off from the front seawall at the club and a total of four races of 18 minutes in length in each division were completed using a windward-leeward course.
On Saturday the wind changed to the south and increased to between 15 – 22. There was light rain off and on during the day. Because of the wind direction and velocity, changing off from the seawall was not ossible and contestants were swapped between races using inflatable dinghys. There were a number of capsizes. The highlight of the day came when some unknown passer-by on shore apparently called 911 indicating that a boat was in need of assistance. Although the Police had been notified of the event in advance, several safety units appeared on shore including a dive team, and the water patrol came in from the lake charging across the racecourse. It was finally discovered that one Police Watch Captain had not told his replacement that the event was taking place. A total of 8 races in each division were sailed. The traditional dinner-dance was held back at the Belmont Harbor station, and gave the competitors an opportunity to see where the clubhouse barge had been moved and the how docks had been installed in much of the space in which they had sailed last year.
Sunday was bright and sunny after a front passed through. The wind was from the west at 7 – 10 and contained some significant pufts in the tradition of previous Angstens which caused a few capsizes. The last four races were sailed using triangle courses. There was close competition between the Defending Champion Boston College, Eagles, and the Michigan, Wolverines. Michigan needed to make up 8 points at the beginning of the day (2 per race), but fell short gaining only half of those. Therefore, Boston College won the Angsten Bowl again for the third year in a row, and Michigan won the Midwest Fall Championship and the Graduate Officers Trophy. The defending Midwest Fall Champion, Wisconsin was third.
School A B Total
1.Boston College 48 40 88
2.Michigan 54 38 92
3.Wisconsin 60 56 116
4.Fordham 54 86 140
5.Minnesota 100 69 169
6.Marquette 95 102 197
7.Northwestern 106 104 210
8.Michigan State 136 83 219
9.Ohio University 116 140 256
10.Miami University 140 126 266
11.Indiana 143 126 269
12.Maryland-BC 133 168 301
13.Oklahoma 175 153 328
14.Purdue 152 179 331
A Division
TOT
1. Boston College 48 Spencer Powers '07 (ALL) / Jess Schmierer '07 (ALL)
2. Fordham 54 Nate Powell '06 (ALL) / Katie Murphy '06 (ALL)
3. Michigan 54 Christina Falcone '07 (ALL) / M.Cochran '06
(1-8,13-14), Chris Granger '07 (9-12)
4. Wisconsin 60 Anne Porter'05(1-7,13-14), Matt Schmidt'07(8-12)
Bargen'07(1-6,13-14), Lorenz'08(8-12), Dunham(7)
5. Marquette 95 Hunter Ratliff '05 (ALL) / Cate Muller '06 (ALL)
6. Minnesota 100 Ben Burgum(3-8,13-14), Mark Dunsworth(9-12),
Jennifer Wilson(1-2) Jennifer Wilson '06 (13-14),
Mark Dunsworth '06(1-2)
7. Northwestern 106 Brian Sabina '05 (ALL) / Asahel Church '07 (ALL)
8. Ohio University 116 Karl Felger '06 (ALL) / Anna Rice '05(1-5,8-14),
Caroline Sundmas'08(6-7)
9. Maryland-BC 133 Kevin King '05 (ALL) / Richard Dunn '07 (ALL)
10. Michigan State 136 R.Linden'06(1-4,7-10,13-14), Mike.Fong'07
(5-6,11-12)Megan Walter'06(1-4,7-10,13-14),
Thienhaus'07(11-12)
11. Miami University 140 Nicole Finefrock '05 (ALL) / Brian Streng '07(ALL)
12. Indiana 143 HJ Richardson '05 (ALL) / Kiki Kappral '07(ALL)
13. Purdue 152 Carlos Abisambra '06(1-13) Sean Kennedy (14) /
Sean Kennedy '06 (1-13) Carlos Abisambra (14)
14. Oklahoma 175 Mizu Sakurai '08 (ALL) / Aaron Hanes '08 (ALL)
B Division
TOT
1. Michigan 38 Matt Vanderpool '06 (ALL)/ Lisa Vandenboseche'07
(1-6)Tom Martin'05(7-14)
2. Boston College 40 Alan Frith '08 (ALL) / Kelly Dusinberre '05 (ALL)
3. Wisconsin 56 Scott Eiserhardt'07(1-4,13-14), Aaron Mann'07(5-12)
Kelsey Cramer'07(1-4,13-14), Liz Prarge'07(5-12)
4. Minnesota 69 Alex Symes '04 (ALL) / Kelsey Dunigan '08 (ALL)
5. Michigan State 83 Mary Vorel'05(ALL) / Steve Griffin'08(7-14), Carolyn
Somes'08(1-6)
6. Fordham 86 Anne-Marie '08 (ALL) / E. O'Neill'06(1-10,13-14),
K.O'Malley'07(11-12)
7. Marquette 102 C.Williams'06(11-12)C.Acker'07(1-7,9-10,13-14)
Swantwert(1-6,13-14), Estes(11-12), Williams(7,9-10)
8. Northwestern 104 Brandon Keao'07(1-2,7-14), Lindsey Duda'05(3-6)
Erin Miller'08(1-2,7-14), Liz Snow'05(3-6)
9. Indiana 126 Mike Schmid '06 (ALL) / Jen Gaker '05 (ALL)
10.Miami University 126 Jocelyn Pollock '07 (ALL) / Anne Simiele'06
(1-4,13-14), Doug Baker'08(5-12)
11. Ohio University 140 Mark Paisley '05 (ALL) / Eric Milliman '06 (ALL)
12. Oklahoma 153 Andrew Brett '07 (ALL) / Jaci Wolf '08 (ALL)
13. Maryland-BC 168 J.Curtis'05(1-2,5-14), J.Teunis '06(3-4)/
Jessica Teunis'06(1-2,5-14), Dan Bryant (3-4)
14. Purdue 179 Charles Rush '06 (ALL) / AdamNaramore '06 (ALL)
Progress and Planning
Alex Symes
Snow is on the ground all over the Midwest, and the MCSA fall season has ended. With an intense regatta schedule, I have had the chance to see the large teams flourish, and the small teams grow. I remember Fall Fury when Marquette could not even bring 4 sailors to a regatta, and by the end of the season, they had 11 at Area-west. Chicago, Illinois and Carleton all made it to a couple of regattas, and have great enthusiasm on their teams. Ohio made to their first nationals in a long time, and we had our first radial event at OSU. Let’s not let this momentum die over the course of the winter. Keep your teams together and make your time useful, but have fun together too. Having fun is the glue that will hold your team together. Get some events together; some for fundraising, some for moral, maybe start working out together. Over the winter, put together a tentative spring schedule. Try to figure out workout/practice times, maybe a spring break trip, and fundraising opportunities. Finally, you need to start getting ready for Midwinter’s.
The MCSA Midwinter Session is being held by Northwestern this year and there are some new policies that you need to know about. Our Scheduling system has changed. This year we will be picking regattas in a draft system, with the school with the best participation points picking one regatta first. You have received participation points for attending regattas, but you might have lost some for pulling out early. Every school will choose one regatta before the second round. This experiment will cut down scheduling time. The second new policy has to do with board officers. This year we have not nominated any officers for the board. Instead, the candidate must take the initiative and obtain signatures from one third of regular member schools. Therefore, if you want a board position, start going around to schools to get signatures. Team leaders remember, you may only sign for one person per position.
Good luck on final exams, and have a great winter break. I will leave you with a final haiku:
Sailing is over. To keep your team together Have fun with your team.
I will see you all in Chicago at Midwinter’s.