College of Charleston senior and ICSA College Sailor of the Year frontrunner, Stefano Peschiera claimed victory this weekend at the Laser Performance Men's Singlehanded Nationals in a decisive fashion. A regatta, stacked with talent, showcased three previous champions, including Peschiera himself, who won the event as a freshman in 2014.
Peschiera walked away from the strong competition, averaging just 4 points over 12 races. With only the Atlantic Coast Championship left to sail, Peschiera has put together a compelling season, winning his conference championship, A-Division at the Danmark Trophy and now Singlehanded Nationals.
Teammate Gerald Williams (‘19), finished second at the event, 14 points behind the lead. The competition finished right on William’s heels, with the top five decided by the final race. Williams secured a second place finish to beat out Navy sailor Gary Prieto (’18) by just one point.
Jacksonville’s Gage Wilson (‘21) finished fourth, winning a tiebreaker against last year’s champion, Scott Rasmussen (‘20) of Boston College. Wilson’s three first place finishes at the event gave him the nod in the tiebreaker against Rasmussen.
Boston College Freshman Sophia Reineke narrowly triumphed at the Laser Performance Women's Singlehanded Nationals over Coast Guard's Dana Rhode ('18), in the final moments of the event. After the twelfth and final race, the two sat tied for the win, with a protest ultimately allowing Reineke to jump ahead by just one point and take the top spot.
Going into the final race, Reineke stood 11 points behind Rohde. In a tense battle for points, Rhode took an 18th place finish, and a steadfast Reineke was able to capitalize. Despite the heartbreaking finish for the senior, Rohde finished second overall, two points ahead of Kelly-Ann Arrindell (‘20) from College of Charleston.
Lindsey Baab (‘18) finished fourth with 75 points and Marian Frances Williams (‘21) of Charleston finished fifth with 76 points in what was an extremely tight regatta.
At Connecticut College, light winds plagued the Hap Moore Team Race, with just one round robin completed over the weekend. Connecticut College won the event, led by skippers Hugh MacGillivray ('18), Walter Florio ('18) and Carter Pemberton ('20). The Camels defeated Boston College in a tiebreaker, after beating the Eagles when the teams went head to head. The Camels and Eagles each lost only one race to finish 6/1 on the weekend. The Brown Bears finished third, going 5/2.
Texas teams, joined by Tulane, battled it out at the Kathryn Hammond Memorial Regatta. Light winds meant just eight races were sailed on Saturday, with no races sailed on Sunday. Texas A&M Galveston won the event, with their second-team teammates also taking the third place spot ahead of Tulane. Texas A&M finished second.
At the Kennedy Cup, hosted by the US Naval Academy, collegiate big-boat sailors found wind in Annapolis after a slow week to compete in Navy 44s. The USF Bulls sailed to victory, defeating Mass Maritime, who held onto second, despite a DSQ in race two. The Buccaneers strung together two bullets in the final two races to secure their second place finish. The local Midshipmen finished third.
With the Fall season almost in the books, East Coast teams will look to finish strong at the Atlantic Coast Championship and Atlantic Coast Tournament, and match racers will vie for the ICSA Match Race National Championship at College of Charleston.
