Club News


Cole Harris 6th Place at the 2015 Orange Bowl

By | March 07, 2016

By Cole Harris

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On Christmas night, my crew Tanner and I boarded the plane and flew to Miami. The flight went as planned arriving on time and leaving as scheduled, making for a smooth flight. By the time we arrived it was already the morning in Florida, so we checked into our hotel and got a few hours of sleep before heading down to the venue to pick up our charter boat.

We were privileged to receive coaching from Scott Sinks and Briana Provancha through CISA. After checking in with them we hit the water to familiarize ourselves with the venue. We came to find that it was a pretty spectacular place to sail, with nice breeze ranging from 15-20 knots consistently and tall chop to surf downwind. We sailed out of Shake-a-Leg Miami which is 100 yards down the street from Coral Reef Yacht Club. After a couple hours of tuning on the water, we had some dinner and went to get some rest and mentally prepare for the long days of racing ahead.

We woke up the first day of the regatta to a steady 17 knots, and hit the water immediately to make the most of the nice breeze. Tanner and I started the regatta off well scoring a 4 in the first race. We sailed a great second race and crossed the finish line in 3rd, but unfortunately we got flagged after finishing for a bit of aggressive surfing downwind, scoring a 9 in that race. Finally, we ended the day with a 3rd and were very pleased with the day. The second and third days of the regatta went swimmingly as well with all top ten finishes except for one, and winning race 10.

The first three days left us with only two races to complete on the final day. Starting off the day with an unsatisfying 10th place, Tanner and I were determined to finish the regatta well. In the last race, we won the pin and were sailing fast out to the left side of the course. When the left shift we were looking for came, we tacked and consolidated with the fleet. We were stoked to find that we were crossing the fleet, and we ended up rounding the first weather mark in the lead. We sailed the remainder of the race in first, playing defense and covering the boats behind us. When we crossed the finish line, we were very happy to know that we finished the regatta with a bang.

Tanner and I ended up 6th overall out of 82 boats and were very satisfied with our performance.

A huge thank you to the SDYC Competition Fund Committee and contributors! We are so grateful to have received your support for this regatta. Tanner and I were extremely honored to have the privilege of representing Team SDYC!

Thanks again,
Cole Harris