This past weekend's SAISA Match Racing Conference Championships qualifier was "one of the largest and deepest fleets compiled to qualify for match race nationals out of SAISA," according to host and PRO Kevin Jewett. In a fiercely competitive event, Eckerd College and Jacksonville University teams survived the first round robin with only one loss. As the day progressed, this week's SAISA Sailors of the Week, the Eckerd College Tritons match race squad secured key wins down the stretch and bested charges from both College of Charleston and Jacksonville University to win their first match race qualifier since 2015. The Tritons came into the event well-prepared having trained for weeks in advance of the match competition and making it a team priority.
For the second day in a row, the sailors representing the ICSA defeated the visiting British sailors, this time 3-1, in the Laser 3v3 team race for the 2019 Performance Sailcraft Trophy.
The BUSA sailors showed up early to practice in Navy's rustic fleet of lasers and get used to ICSA's version of rule 42. The format for the Laser team race was a first to three point series, with teams switching boats after the first two races. Team ICSA was represented by Ford McCann (Georgetown University), Connor Bayless (US Naval Academy) and Gavin McJones (US Naval Academy). Since all three sailors from ICSA will be competing at the MAISA Men's Singlehanded Championship for the Van Duyne Trophy this weekend, spirits and confidence levels were high for this round of competition against the visiting competitors from BUSA.
Although it was week two of the conference season with points events in both divisions underway, the spotlight for this week's SAISA Sailors of the Week is on Miami where the U hosted both Men's and Women's SAISA Singlehanded Conference Championships, qualifier for the 2019 ICSA LaserPerformance Singlehanded National Championships held later this year. The week leading up to the event saw forecasts all over the place, but when the men took to the water on Saturday it was pretty glassy and racing was abandoned until the afternoon. When the wind did show up, it really showed up and the College of Charleston's Steven Leuck was there for it. Leuck last competed in SAISA Singlehanded in the fall of 2016 finishing 5th in that contest behind a slate of fellow Cougars that year. In his return Leuck took the lead from the first race, put distance between himself and the field early, and held on until the end for the regatta win despite a late charge from host Miami's Marshall McCann. Conditions were definitely a factor in the outcome of this regatta and Leuck adapted well to the building breeze to win a tough event in a very talented field. Congratulations to Leuck on earning this week's SAISA co-ed Sailor of the Week. He will be joined by Miami's McCann, and Charleston's Benn Smith to represent SAISA at singlehanded nationals.
The ICSA sailors defeated the visiting British sailors 2-1 in the 2019 Lord King Match Race. The racing took place out of the US Naval Academy on Tuesday September 17 in two of the Academy's Navy 44s.
As a courtesy to the visiting sailors, BUSA was given the option to choose either: Starboard entry for race one (and race three if necessary), or pick which of the Navy 44s to race in. Seeing as the fleet of 44s are all equal, the savvy Brits chose starboard entry.
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