© VINCENT CURUTCHET / DPPI

Jean Pierre Dick, often touted a favorite to win the race, will sail the Virbac Paprec, one of the newer boats in the fleet.

I would not describe it as NBA-style trash talking, but some past and present Vendée Globe sailors have very opinionated ideas about who will most likely win the Everest of offshore solo races. Most agree on the obvious conclusion that one of the more experienced sailors with a technologically advanced boat (and who is also very lucky) will be the first to arrive back to port at Les Sables d'Olonne after surviving the Vendée Globe’s around-the-world route. The general assumption is also that only about half of the fleet will even finish the race.

Moondust (left) at her pier

Thanks to Sandy, I have now nursed sailboats through two hurricanes (or hurricanes that were fading into the tropical storm category, if I am totally honest). One sailboat, a Bristol 35.5, was at sea, and we ran into Hurricane Mitch in 1998, after the storm surprised everyone by doubling back east and running over the southbound Caribbean 1500 fleet. And the other, my new-old Beneteau 36.7, Moondust, was sitting at a pier on the Rhode River on the Chesapeake Bay when Sandy roared through this week.

© 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.