This past weekend marked the first weekend for spring sailing in New England for MCSC. Alex Strothe, CC Connard, Marshall Strong, and Nicole Hoesterey headed down to Connecticut as soon as winter storm Saturn cleared up early Saturday morning. Connecticut College did an excellent job clearing the venue of 8 inches of snow along the Thames and had the boats ready to go by the noon call time. 6 races were completed for the A fleet and 4 for the B fleet in light-medium wind. The B fleet started with 2 races on Sunday, but after the rotation the A fleet was called back in for an hour delay as the wind clocked 180 degrees. 3 races in A and 5 for the B fleet were completed on Sunday. Coach Ben treated the sailors with a tour of Brattleboro on their way back home to visit a traditional Vermont sugarhouse and a local diner. What a surprise! 

The girls had a great time in Florida! The pale Vermonters caught some rays on a casual Friday afternoon sail to move the boats from University of Southern Florida to the racing venue at Marina Cove Resort further south where the spring college national championships will be held this year. They spotted dolphins and stingrays  and did their best to not get stuck on the sandbars along the way.

The first day of racing on Saturday started out with light wind, but the wind quickly built as a storm rolled in. Gusts up to 30 knots were recorded just a few miles away as the front blew through, which made for some great action on the water. “A” and “B” divisions sailed together in a combined fleet with a total of 10 races on Saturday.

Sunday morning was “one of the coldest mornings of the winter” for Floridans, but the Middlebury sailors felt like it was a balmy morning as they watched the other teams pile on fleeces under their spray gear. The wind started out strong and diminished throughout the day. 6 races were completed and our girls were off the water by 2:30pm. They drove back to Orlando and enjoyed a delicious dinner in Downtown Disney. Despite the busy weekend, they still had enough energy to join in a hula hoop dance party in Downtown Disney!

We are thrilled to announce that the Middlebury College Sailing Club is sending 5 female sailors to the Women’s Interconference at University of Southern Florida! Seniors Nicole Hoesterey and Emily Cordner, sophomores Terry Duncan and Alex Saunders, and freshman Meghan Colwell will be headed to Florida for the regatta February 16-17. We are so excited to move this team to the next level and start sending teams to interconference events, not to mention we are ecstatic to have enough females to form women’s teams! Keep an eye out on our Facebook page and here on our website for updates about the event.

If you would like to help support the team on their upcoming adventures, please visit our Donate page.

Over Homecoming weekend, MCSC hosted the Alumni Regatta. Similar to the Parent’s Regatta, the weather chose to not cooperate. A couple minutes after we got in the boats, a thunderstorm rolled right over Lake Dunmore and all the boats had to rush back to the docks and de-rig. We waited out the rain, then some members of the team went out on the lake to sail, while the rest got the barbeque going. The rail did not spoil our fun, and the current team members had a great time catching up with the alumni! Thanks to all the alumni who came out to Waterhouse’s. It was great to see you!

Middlebury sailors Sean Willerford, Lizzie Morris, Terry Duncan, and Anna Baratta spent the weekend sailing at the McGill Cup in Montreal. Faced with big breeze, chop, and the current of the St. Lawrence river on Saturday, the Midd sailors pulled out a second place overall, with first place in 3 out of the 12 total races. Sunday dawned cold and devoid of wind, preventing any further racing. It was a fun regatta regardless, and we extend a big thanks to the McGill sailing team for hosting a great event!

It’s finally here! This new website has been officially moved to the home domain www.middsailing.com/. It looks similar to the old site, but the new blog format will let us post updates much easier so you can keep up with our activities. Read our new blog posts, look at our pictures, and check back frequently for new content!

Ahoy Mateys!

While drifting around Mendums Pond waiting for wind at the Chris Loder Trophy last weekend, the Midd sailors had an excellent idea. What if we had a Pirate Practice?! We could dress up like pirates, pillage other boats, and speak like pirates. Our new coach Ben (also known as Cap’n Redbeard) was 100% behind the idea and had some spirited games in mind.

Thursday marked the 1st Annual Pirate Practice. It was a beautiful sunny day, but a little chilly.  Shiver me timbers! The 2nd Annual Pirate Practice may include a short lesson on how to dress warmly like a pirate. The salty dogs be boardin’ enemy ships, attackin’ with potent ammunition (sponges and bailer splashes), and speakin’  like a true masters of the sea. Aye aye, tis true!

The practice ended with a barbecue on the beach and group games. What a great way to take advantage of these sunny fall days and have some fun-filled team bonding time. Check out the photos of the plunderin’, me heartys!

Here at MCSC, we’re all super excited to get back up and racing!  We had our first two regattas the weekend of the 15th and 16th; one being the Lake Champlain Open at UVM and the other our very own Middlebury Cup.  The Midd Cup was a big hit, with one Northeastern sailor allegedly saying that it was the “best regatta he had ever been to.”

Last weekend the team traveled to UNH to attend the Loder Trophy.  Despite light winds on Saturday, enough races were run to have a full regatta.  Sunny and warm weather made for pleasant, if shifty, sailing, and everyone agreed that it was a great weekend to be out on the water.

Our new head coach, Ben Dominguez, has been posting lots of great pictures- head over to our media page to check them out!

The summer may not be the prime time for college sailing, but that’s just because it’s time to sail elsewhere. And what better place for it than the Summer Olympics? Be sure to check out the highlights here. To celebrate, here’s a photo of possibly the most british-looking sailor ever.