Boston College Wins Singlehanded Titles

The 2016-2017 College Sailing Singlehanded National Championships, hosted by Texas A & M University at Galveston and Sea Star Base Galveston on November 5-6, wrapped up with Boston College coming out on top of both championships.

Scott Rasmussen (Cape Coral, FL), a freshman at Boston College won the Men’s event and Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, FL), a senior at Boston College won the Women’s event.

The championships included the top 18 men and top 18 women singlehanded college sailors in the nation. LaserPerformance provided new full rig Lasers and Laser Radials for the events and Marlow Ropes provided mainsheets. The competitors sailed out of Sea Star Base Galveston on Offatts Bayou in Galveston, TX.

The conditions for the first day of racing, on Saturday, were winds ranging from about 4 knots on the light side to about 12 knots in the windier moments. The average for the day was about 8 to 10 knots. It was shifty and flat water sailing under sunny skies and warm temperatures. The sailors completed 10 races and finished the day around 5 p.m.

On Sunday the conditions were a little windier and cloudier than Saturday, but still flat water and tricky shifty winds. The competitors completed four races finishing up the event around 12:30 p.m. with 14 races total sailed for the regattas.

Scott Rasmussen is the winner of the Glen S. Foster Trophy, awarded to the first place finisher. This is his first collegiate national championship and it’s the first time that Boston College has won the Men’s Singlehanded Nationals. Now Boston College has won each college sailing national championship title.

“I did not feel a lot of pressure going into the event,” says Rasmussen, “I felt confident, but it was nerve wracking during the regatta. I kept it all together and just kept sailing.”

Rasmussen was never leading the event and only won the regatta in the very last race, which he won allowing him to gain leverage on the regatta leader, Nick Baird, Yale University, who placed 14th in the last race and Gerald Williams, College of Charleston, who placed 5th in the race and was one point ahead of Rasmussen going into it.

“It was an all around challenging event, but it was a lot of fun being with everyone I know, we are all friends out there, and it’s great being part of a team with Boston College,” says Rasmussen.

“The Men’s regatta was very close throughout,” says Greg Wilkinson, head coach for Boston College, “He [Rasmussen] was able to deal with the pressure and things went his way in the end. We prepared by getting time in the Laser and exposing Scott to Singlehanded College sailing at the Navy Fall regatta, so he could get used to short courses.”

Gerald Williams, College of Charleston, placed second and received the George Griswold Trophy. He finished only three points behind Rasmussen. Placing third, Nick Baird, Yale University, was just one point behind Williams.

This was also a special event for Boston College because Erika Reineke won the Women’s Singlehanded Nationals for the fourth time, which is the only time this has been done in either the Men’s or the Women’s event. Annie Haeger, Reineke’s former teammate at Boston College, won the Women’s regatta three times previously as has Danielle Brennan (St. Mary’s College of Maryland), Margaret Gill (Harvard University), and Anna Tunnicliffe (Old Dominion University).

Reineke is the winner of the Janet Lutz Trophy, awarded to the first place finisher. She finished the regatta with only 31 points and was 39 points ahead of second place. She won eight out of the fourteen races.

“I was really nervous before this event,” says Reineke, “But on Friday my coach helped me calm my nerves. I found that adjusting to the different conditions was key and my main focus for the event.”

Reineke felt that the regatta could have gone to any one of her competitors. “I tried to stay focused on my racing and take it step-by-step, which is what all of the other girls were doing too, so I was nervous of everyone out there,” she says.

“We don’t sail lasers much in college sailing, only in the fall really, and it’s what I grew up sailing and I have always loved them, so any chance I can get in the boat is fun,” says Reineke.

Kelly-Ann Arrindell, College of Charleston, finished in second place with 70 points. Also with 70 points, in third place, was Lindsey Baab, Brown University.

Men’s, Final Results (14 races):
1. Scott Rasmussen ’20, Boston College, 81
2. Gerald Williams ’19, College of Charleston, 84
3. Nicholas Baird ’19, Yale University, 85
4. Enrique Pacas ’17, College of Charleston, 89*
5. Stefano Peschiera ’18, College of Charleston, 89*
6. Alp Rodopman ’17, Tufts University, 107
7. Malcolm Lamphere ’18, Yale University, 111
8. Greg Martinez ’18, Georgetown University, 113
9. Gary Prieto ’18, U.S. Naval Academy, 117
10. Brendan Shanahan ’17, George Washington University, 122
11. William Marshall ’19, Stanford University, 125
12. John Hanna ’19, Texas A&M University at Galveston, 128
13. Jack Marshall ’18, Georgetown University, 142
14. Luke Muller ’18, Stanford University, 160
15. James Harvey ’17, Washington University, 184
16. Michael Levy ’19, Oregon State University, 211
17. Charlie Kutschenreuter ’19, University of Wisconsin, 217
18. Korbin Kierstead ’19, University of Wisconsin, 231
*Head-to-head tiebreaker

Women’s, Final Results (14 races):
1. Erika Reineke ‘17, Boston College, 31
2. Kelly-Ann Arrindell ’20, College of Charleston, 70*
3. Lindsey Baab ’18, Brown University, 70*
4. Haddon Hughes ’19, Georgetown University, 79
5. Dana Rhode ’18, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 92
6. Louisa Nordstrom ’20, Yale University, 99
7. Kelly Cole ’19, College of Charleston, 100
8. Lola Bushnell ’18, Georgetown University, 103
9. Lenox Butcher ’20, University of Pennsylvania, 115
10. Riley Legault ’19, George Washington University, 118
11. Isabella Loosbrock ’19, Boston College, 135
12. Simone Staff ’18, University of California Santa Barbara, 137
13. Haley Fox ’18, Stanford University, 178
14. Ellie Ungar ’19, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 185
15. Olivia Gugliemini ’19, Stanford University, 186
16. Laura Smit ’18, University of Washington, 219
17. Libby Reeg ’17, Hope College, 233
18. Haley Walker ’18, Texas A & M University at Galveston, 244
*Number of high-place (1) finishes

Event details – Facebook

Source: Jennifer Mitchell, ICSA