MIT Sailing 1998 Newsletter
Greetings from the Sailing Pavilion!
As the fall sailing season winds down, it is with keen pleasure and no little pride that we report on the recent achievements of the MIT sailing community.
At the time of writing, the women's sailing team is ranked second in the nation, ahead of perennial sailing powerhouses like Tufts, St. Mary's and Old Dominion. This success is all the more remarkable since Captain Jen Kelly '99 of Noroton, CT, was the only sailor in our top two women's boats who came to MIT with any prior sailing experience. Our other winning skipper, Jessica Lackey '00 of Houston, TX, and Jen's crew Susanna Mierau '01 of Wichita, KA, were recruited from the PE Learn to Sail class while Jessica's crew Carla Pellicano '01 of Bloomfield, NJ, was prevailed upon to join the sailing team while she was at the pool taking her Freshman Swim Test.
Last spring the women's team shocked the country by qualifying for Nationals. This fall, winning the Women's Laser Radial and the Man Labs regattas, placing high in other events, and qualifying for the Atlantic Coast Championships, they have proved that their performance of the spring was no fluke. This superb achievement is the result of relentless hard work: to carve more time on the water out of a hectic MIT schedule the team has been holding supplemental 7am-9am morning practices. And while it may be agonizing to get up and out on the water that early in the morning, their effort has paid off magnificently. Practice has built skill in boat handling and tactics, skill has built confidence, and that confidence is manifesting itself in results at regattas.
The members of the coed varsity team worked especially hard this summer. Many of the team members practiced in the Pavilion's highly competitive Team Racing series held on Monday nights. Racing against some of the top team racers in the country steadily improved their skills. During the summer a concentrated effort was also made by promising crews Carla Pellicano and Jen Shapiro '01 of West Nyack, CT,--the women's skippers of tomorrow--to try out the driver's seat. Both women participated in the summer club racing series. Sean Fabre '01 of Mill Valley, CA, sailed with the Thursday night racing crowd. On his way to winning the series he offered encouragement and coaching to the intermediate sailors. Captain Alan Sun '01 of St. Croix, in the Virgin Islands and Chris Stow '00 of Mountain Lakes, NJ, raced an MIT Star boat in summer regattas around the Boston area to prepare for the Intercollegiate Sloop Championships, held in Stars this fall. The varsity team has also had a wonderful season. They won the Oberg Trophy, came in third at the Hatch Brown, and finished fourth at the Schell. This final achievement qualifies them to compete in the Atlantic Coast Championships. As far as we know, this is the first time that the Coed and women's teams have qualified for the Atlantic Coast Championships in the same year.
The Coed team was especially delighted to have come in third in the Hatch Brown Trophy Regatta. This regatta was named for our former Sailing Master Hatch Brown who retired three years ago. Hatch is still active in sailing and in life here at the Pavilion. Cottage Park Yacht Club is thrilled to have Hatch involved with their junior sailing program. From Hatch, CPYC's junior sailors are learning practical racing skills, as well as, radio-controlled sailboat racing. Hatch has joined CPYC's Sunday radio-controlled sailboat racers and often allows junior members to try out his boat. There will be many radio-controlled sailboats under the Christmas trees of the CPYC junior sailors this winter.
This fall Hatch agreed to become a part-time coach for Wellesley College. He is also the Race Committee Chairman for the Winthrop Laser and Interclub Frostbite fleets. In addition to all of these activities, Hatch still finds time to help us here at the Pavilion, volunteering to help out with the PE classes, daily Pavilion activities, and to serve as race committee, recently for the Brass Rat club regatta. We appreciate that Hatch continues to share his experience, wisdom, and love of sailing with us here at the at the Pavilion.
This summer, every Tuesday and Thursday morning, 50 MIT summer camp kids descended upon the Pavilion. Ranging in age from 7 to 14 these kids were taught basic boat handling, nautical terms, and also the useful skills ancillary to sailing such as tying knots. Several of these young sailors were tireless patrollers of the river. They sailed the high seas of the Charles in their trusty ships, took note of everything that happened, and reported back with their findings. Nothing occurred on the river that escaped their eagle eyes. Other sailors enjoyed playing follow the leader. They practiced sailing to windward following Coach Kyle Welch--who was always just out of reach. The yeoman efforts of Ellen Pratt, Dwight Brown, Nick Finch, Mike Bottoms and a great group of camp counselors ensured that many of these young sailors now return with their family and friends in tow and take them sailing on the Charles.
The Sunday and Wednesday Learn to Sail classes remain popular. This summer we were fortunate to have both old and new volunteers to help run these mainstays of the program. Corey Baker and Dwight Brown were joined by Iliana Fujimori and David Parks. A popular innovation this summer was also “Learn to Sail over Lunch” classes--so popular indeed, that the coaches were nearly overwhelmed as more than seventy keen aspirants, mostly members of the MIT staff, inundated the pavilion during their lunch hour. But the pavilion staff was equal to the challenge and the coaches--who teach mostly undergraduates — enjoyed the unusual opportunity of teaching other members of the MIT community to sail.
In another innovation, Pavilion volunteers Ellen Pratt, Sue Ostrowski, and Eric Gibber offered intermediate sailing classes on the Rhodes 19's. These classes were scheduled for the weekends, as well as a few weekday evenings to allow for the convenience of as many potential big-boat sailors as possible. Sailors who have completed the R19 rating enjoy sailing on the Charles, the monthly moonlight sail and BBQ gatherings in the summer, Boston Harbor trips, and the opportunity to go sailing on the Pavilion's J-22. The Pavilion and Courageous Sailing Center in the Charlestown Navy Yard have an arrangement of benefit to both parties. Courageous docks our J-22 at their site in the Navy Yard and uses it in their racing series. Pavilion sailors with their R19 rating are able to take the boat out from Courageous for a sail in Boston Harbor. Our sailors also compete every other Saturday in Courageous' winter Frostbite series.
Frostbiting may not be everybody's idea of a good time but in New England there are many sailors who spend winter Sundays on the water in either an Interclub Dinghy or a Laser racing in a Frostbite series. Cottage Park Yacht Club in Winthrop has fleets of both. The Pavilion's Interclub will be racing regularly in the fleet this year.
Coach Kyle Welch offered his Introduction to Racing course again this summer on Monday evenings. This popular course drew beginning sailors and racers as well as many long-time crews looking to move into the back of the boat. For Kyle's eager students the summer culminated in a well-attended regatta in which the novice racers exhibited their new skills. At the start of the last race, three boats had a shot at the title, Novice Regatta Champ. Rounding the final leeward mark, it appeared to be a duel between Jean Connors and the team of Prof. Jon-Ted Lendon and Ellen Pratt. Jean extended a sizable lead early in the beat and seemed to have the title well in hand when Jon-Ted and Ellen found a favorable shift on the left side of the course. Approaching the finish line, both boats were shocked to see the team of Conan Hom '94 and Rebecca Reynolds, who had rounded the leeward mark well astern, charge out of the left corner. They crossed both boats and captured first place in the race. Unfortunately Conan and Rebecca needed at least two points to defeat the team of Jon-Ted and Ellen. Jon-Ted and Ellen managed to shoot head to wind at the finish and cross the line inches ahead of Jean to secure the championship.
Informal Thursday evening racing saw a resurgence in popularity this year, now that the entire series is raced in Tech Dinghies. Veteran racers from the Pavilion's highly competitive Tuesday Night Tech series did race committee duty. Racers of all levels were welcome in this low-key series, and former members of the racing team in town on a Thursday found this a relaxing way to recall past glories in companionable racing where the competitors checked their egos at the door. Sailing team member Sean Fabre triumphed in this series.
Tuesday evening racing was as popular and competitive as ever. Boat Rigger John Pratt was the Race Committee Chairman and Ellen Pratt, a long-time volunteer at the Pavilion, was Race Committee Scorer. Ellen was also the “Keeper of the Race Committee Volunteer Log,” keeping exacting track of who volunteered to run races on which days. Many Tuesday night racers who had been shirking their duties for years found themselves in the committee boat, amidst the good-natured jeering of their competitors. John Pratt won this series again this year, extending his tradition of dominance.
Once again this summer, Pavilion volunteer John Alba '71 offered windsurfing classes on Thursday evenings. Most beginning windsurfers spend more time in the water than on it. Miya Kayahara '01 of the Varsity Sailing Team found this out her first time on a board. She was towed back from the Boston shore several times. Miya is looking forward to getting out there again on the river in the Spring. The Pavilion's windsurfing equipment consists of three boards and two rigs. If any members out there have any windsurfing equipment that is gathering dust in the closet or the cellar at home, please think about donating it to the Pavilion during Spring cleaning.
Over the last few years our Hinckley 38, the Aleida, has received a new mast and boom, an engine and has been otherwise improved. Leon Abulafia '58 proposed making the Aleida available for alumni of the class of 1958 who would be celebrating their 40th class reunion. Leon donated his time and energy to help get the boat ready for the journey. Sailing Master Fran Charles sailed the Aleida to Newport with his son, his daughters, and Leon Abulafia and his daughter, for the celebration. In Newport, the Class of '58 enjoyed sailing around the harbor with the able guidance of former MIT varsity coach, Joe Duplin.
Although the Aleida did not take her usual summer trip to Maine she was booked with a host of other activities. She and her crew sailed to Cape Cod and attended several Harborlights Concerts. Marianne Wisheart of Career Services captained the Aleida during the Sloop Intercollegiate Championships allowing all of the team coaches to observe the racing.
Professor Bruce Wedlock '56 offered a navigational course during IAP in January 1998. Several members of the pavilion took the class. Professor Wedlock covered GPS, sextant and chart reading as well as other navigational skills. Navigational skills are required to become an Aleida Captain.
In July, the Lawley Boat Owner's Association held a rendezvous at the Sailing Pavilion. The Adelia and the Chautauqua were at the dock while the Dorothy was displayed on her trailer in the parking lot of the MIT Nautical Museum. Afterwards all three boats went to the Boston Antique and Classic Boat Festival in Quincy. It has been awhile since we have seen boats of such beautiful craftmanship here at the Pavilion.
This year marked the 48th Jack Wood Trophy for the Massachusetts Bay Midget (14 years old) Championship, held annually at MIT. Representing MIT, Fran's son, Brewster Charles and his crew Alden Reid attempted a repeat of their success of the previous two years. The competitors for this year's event were the strongest ever. MIT's team battled to a tie with Eastern Yacht Club at the end of the first day. In the light and shifty conditions of the second day, the MIT team's experience in Techs paid off. Brewster and Alden clinched the title in the second-to-last race, becoming the first three-time winners of the trophy.
Terry Koehler '62 donated new North sails for the Tech Dinghy fleet. The sails have large numbers and MIT Sailing across the foot. Now, there is no confusion among observers on shore, race committee, or dock staff as to which boats are MIT's.
While the sails are crisp, beautiful and new our tech fleet is coming up on its seventh year of service and showing its age. These boats see a tremendous amount of daily use: between summer camp, recreational sailing, club and intercollegiate racing our tech fleet works as hard as any fleet in the country. Boat Rigger John Pratt, with the help of the Pavilion staff, works exhausting hours to keep these boats in sailable condition. Each winter the staff rebuilds staved in bows, failed rudder heads, and reinstalls bow and stern tanks; with 32 boats in the fleet this is a gigantic job. Fortunately the new FJ fleet and the R19 fleet both required only minor maintenance and repair last winter. The Lasers now need major repair: some of them need their floorboards and decks replaced. The Pavilion is considering repairing these boats in order to put them up for sale in the Spring. They should be replaced with a smaller fleet of eight new lasers. This new smaller fleet will be easier to maintain.
After the extensive work done on the Techs last winter, we have come to the sad conclusion that it is time to get a new tech fleet. We will be looking for a builder to make structural changes to the tech molds. With additional flotation added to the design the new boats should be easier to right and safer. A new fleet made of a high-performance resin will be stronger and more resilient.
The Pavilion has always been happy to accept equipment donations. Starting this year, however, we began to accept boats through the Pavilion's new Boat Donation Program. This past spring, six Star boats were donated. With these boats, and several that were loaned for the event, MIT organized and hosted the Intercollegiate Sloop Championships from Cottage Park Yacht Club in Winthrop, MA. The event was a great success with 26 collegiate sailors competing from 13 schools. The MIT Star boats have now been chartered to sailors in the New England area. Several other boats have been donated to the Pavilion including a J-24 and an Ericson 32. If you are interested in learning more about the Boat Donation Program, please contact us here at the Pavilion.
Donations and volunteering are what keep the pavilion and its programs alive. Some people donate money or equipment while others give their time and energy. Leonard Dolhert '79, donated his collection of sailing books, magazines and articles to the Pavilion. This collection has proved helpful to sailors ranging from beginners to advanced racers who read up on tips to help them sail faster and smarter. We appreciate all of our Friends in whatever way they choose to show their support.
Closing day was November 15th. The long winter of boat maintenance, boat repair, paperwork and planning in preparation for the 1999 season has begun. We will be working hard to repair and maintain the fleets and planning for the Sailing Teams' Spring season and the annual Sailing Team Telethon. This winter we will also be reaching out to alumni to help us organize fundraising for the Pavilion.
It has been a long time since we have heard from many of you. We encourage everyone to stop by the pavilion: say hello to old and new faces and to look up your last sailing card which we still have on file. Our communications systems have moved along with the times to include Email and a website, but our phone number, 617-253-4884 is still the same. If you aren't in the area, please contact us at MIT Sailing c/o 3 Ames Street Cambridge, MA 02142, or through Email: sailing@mit.edu.
Thank you from all of the Pavilion staff!
Contact: sailing-request@mit.edu or (617) 253-4884
Thursday, 27-Mar-2003 20:12:17 EST, by plam