By Scott Sinks
http://www.ussailing.org/racing/championships/adult/teamracing/
On September 24, I traveled to Annapolis Maryland to Compete in the 2015 U.S. Sailing Team Race Championship for the Hinman Trophy. My team and I, comprised off Boston College sailors and Alumni took the weekend off of collegiate sailing to compete in U.S. championship. The regatta was sailed in Zim 15s, a boat no one on our team was familiar with, but we were excited to learn about. The format consisted of two full round robins followed by a splitting into a gold and silver bracket, followed by a knock out round within the final 8. Throughout the entire event we were the top seed. Having only three loses between both round robins we were feeling confident going into the gold round and the knockout round.
The second day saw strong winds from 12-18 knots. Many teams unfamiliar with the new boats seemed to have trouble in the big breeze and could neither keep the boat up right nor find the right heavy-air boat speed mode. Fortunately for our team we were able to keep our boat upright (most of the time) and we were fast and physically fit for the big breeze and challenging conditions. We had a good second day and entered the final day as the top seed.
The final day was the knock out round and consisted of two rounds followed by the final round. Each round in the knockout was first to two points. As the top seed we were able to pick our opponent. We went 2-0 in our first match and advanced to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals we were down 0-1 against the fourth ranked team and one loss away from elimination. Were able to regroup and together as a team and win the next two races and advance to the finals. We raced Jetlag in the finals, a team comprised of Stanford graduates from 2013 and all Americans I their own rights. In the round robin and gold round we were 2-1 against Jetlag so we knew these would be tough races to win. In the first race we sailed well after good starts and we were able to come away with a win. In the second race our team struggled to get off the line and we lost in a 3,4,6.
In the final race tensions were high as both teams were a race away from a national championship. We struggled yet again getting off the line and rounded the weather mark in a 3,4,5. On the downwind we sailed fast and we were able to catch a boat and round dead even around mark 4. The last upwind beat to the finish was so close, as both teams were dead even. One of my teammates was able to pin a boat past the lay line to the finish at the last second and before I could realize what had happened, we won the race and had become 2015 Hinman Champions!
The final race was by far the most exciting and dramatic race I have been apart of. I am so thankful that I was given this opportunity. Thank you so much to SDYC for giving me this opportunity. It was an experience I will cherish for a lifetime. Thank you so much!