Week three marks the beginning of conference points competition in SAISA with the SAISA Spring Co-ed Open hosted in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida. Conditions at the Open were excellent with temperatures in the high 70s, consistent, building breeze between 10-15 kts both days, and there are few places in college sailing better to spend an early February weekend than the Eckerd College beach. From the first race of the day, College of Charleston Cougars Will Martens and Keely Gregg set the pace for the day dialing in a bullet and then continuing to lead a very competitive A-fleet through the remainder of the regatta. Fending off a late surge by the host Tritons, winning their division by 10, Martens and Gregg earn SAISA Co-ed Sailors of the Week honors for week three. There were several outstanding performances at this year’s SAISA Spring Open and it stands as one of the most close and competitive SAISA Open regattas in the past few years. Thanks to each of you who submitted nominations this week.
Across town at USF, several SAISA teams were in the mix at the USF Women’s Spring Intersectional regatta, as well as teams from the mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Pacific coast. Picking up where she left off in the Fall, USF skipper Marina Barzaghi found her place at the front of the combined fleet event and stayed there throughout the day consistently. Her showing with crews Darby Capelin, Shani Scwartz, and Samantha Kappaz, secured a first place A-division, helped the USF Bulls earn the regatta win, and earned Barzaghi SAISA Women’s Sailor of the Week honors.
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