© Bill Records

Joining the shore crew means a shift in responsibilities.

While some colleges send heavy crews to nearly every intersectional, other teams, such as my own, follow a more minimalist route. With the prerogative to get everyone sailing each weekend, even a huge team can get spread thin enough that there are no extra bodies on the dock, even at intersectionals. As a medium-sized crew, this approach suits me just fine; my skipper and I weigh just over 270 lbs. together and have built enough muscle in the gym and in V-15s that hiking for 10 races straight is not a problem.

© NEISA Facebook

The home of the Jumbos on Mystic Lake in Medford, Mass., is a bunker with one great view of the racing.

College sailing venues vary just as much as the teams' coaches do. After having sailed across NEISA (New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association) for three full years, I thought I’d share some highly subjective thoughts on their facilities. This is not an exhaustive list, by any means; I’ve heard that UConn has great cookouts but I’ve never personally sailed there, and a few middle-of-the-road venues—such as Salve Regina—were neither here nor there.

© Chris Cameron/ETNZ/ACEA

Dean Barker at the wheel of Emirates Team New Zealand's AC72. They were the first to launch and the first to get their 72 up on foils. But there's a lot of work between now and the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup in July 2013.

For the four syndicates still committed to putting an AC72 on the line for the 34th America’s Cup, it’s a busy time.r While the primary focus shifts to the 72-footer, which each team has launched or will launch shortly, the America’s Cup World Series rolls on, with another event in San Francisco starting today. While each team’s learning curve in the one-design 45-footers has plateaued, there’s a lot that can be learned about what it’s like to race high-speed catamarans on such a windy and tidal racecourse.

© Bruce Gain

The Safran team has had more than eight years under its belt to ready what it says is one of the more technologically advanced boats in the fleet.

Sailing on Marc Guillemot’s IMOCA-class Safran was exceptionally calm the other day in the bay near Trinitié-sur-Mer along the Brittany coast of France. With a 10-knot warm wind over water that was as still as a lake, it was easy to forget the harsh conditions Guillemot will face when he sails around the world alone in the Vendée Globe race.