Tonight I talked on the phone with BU sailor Ben Spiller about the Charleston Spring Intersectional. Tomorrow he promises pictures and possibly video from the event, but for now, this will have to do:

Chris: Tell me about the first day of the Charleston Spring.

Ben: Well, Charleston has obviously got--they're not faster than everyone, and they're not winning off the line. They're winning by the leeward mark (of a four leg course.) It's interesting because that's not typical for normal college venues. They definitely have a home court advantage. They're definitely the superior team.

Chris: How was the first day for you and the BU Terriers? How did you approach it?

Ben: The first couple races, we stuck to our guns. Having been here--the whole team has been to this venue before--we had an idea of what the current was doing, where we needed to go. If we saw Charleston going in one direction, and if it was in our game plan, we might follow them maybe ten boat lengths further out to a corner or something, which is the opposite of what we would do on the river, for instance, where we're always trying to play back to the middle.

Chris: Who else is performing well, and why?

Ben: Eckerd has, by far, the best boathandling. USF is a close second. UVM, Yale, BU, all have decent boat handling, but those schools are way out ahead. It's obvious that they've had time to train and practice with their crews getting ready for the spring season. It's obviously an early-season regatta and the other teams need to work on boathandling.

Chris: After the first day, are you happy with the team's results? Are you where you wanted to be?

Ben: Going into this regatta we had three goals: 1. Have fun. 2. Get a little better. 3. Be more friendly. We felt like at the last regatta--maybe just because it was a team race or, I don't know--we needed to work on that. At every regatta we have results-oriented goals and non-results-oriented goals. That's one of our non-results-oriented goals. We feel like if we can accomplish our non-results-oriented goals, then we'll accomplish our results-oriented goals.

So far we're accomplishing 1 and 2, and we haven't had any protests or anything, so yeah, we're accomplishing our goals. At BU, our philosophy is that the only results that matter are the New England Dinghy Champs. So on every weekend before that, we're just trying to get a little better. We just want to qualify for Nationals Semifinals. All season, we're just trying to get better; we don't care how we finish. If we finish 18th at a regatta, but we get better, then okay; if we get 1st, but we don't improve, then that's not a gain. This is not a regatta for results, so we don't even look. The only impact they have is on what other people think of the BU Terriers. That doesn't really matter. Little by little we just want to be the best team this year.

 

Charleston Spring Intersection

College of Charleston

2/21-22/09

5:21 PM 2-21-09

REGATTA HIGHLIGHTS:

Saturday: Lack of wind forced a postponement ashore until a light SE breeze filled in around 11 am. The breeze held from the SE at 5-8 knots for the remainder of the day. Changing current conditions throughout the day made for some interesting racing. 6 races were completed in each division. 1 protest was filed resulting in 1 DSQ.

 

A division = 6 Races

B division = 6 Races

A B TOT

1. Charleston 9 26 35

2. Eckerd 28 12 40

3. Yale 34 32 66

4. Vermont 33 40 73

5. Boston U 50 34 84

6. South Florida 45 40 85

7. Univ. Rhode Island 57 49 106

8. Stanford 60 47 107

9. Coast Guard 64 46 110

10. UC/Santa Barbara 57 62 119

11. Navy 52 67 119

12. St. Mary's 61 60 121

13. Georgetown 54 76 130

14. Wisconsin 88 51 139

15. Clemson 71 96 167

16. Christopher Newport 71 102 173

17. Old Dominion 93 87 180

18. Tennessee 100 99 199

 

A division = 6 Races

TOT

1. Charleston 9 Nick Martin 10

Britney Haas 09

2. Eckerd 28 Arthur Blodgett 09

Nicci Loliberte 10

3. Vermont 33 Tyler Baeder 09

Chris Bletzer 09

4. Yale 34 Joe Morris 12

Mike Hession 10

5. South Florida 45 Mitchell Hall 10

Stephany Reynold 11

6. Boston U 50 Ben Spiller 09

Sarah Donahue

7. Navy 52 Tim Murphy 10

Caroline Lockett 12, Bennett Geyer 12

8. Georgetown 54 Scott Furnary 11

Kate Canty 12

9. UC/Santa Barbara 57 John Cameron Biehl 10

Keely Scales 12

10. Univ. Rhode Island 57 Ben Quatromoni 10

Lisa Costich 10

11. Stanford 60 Nick Dugdale 12

Hayley Tobin 11

12. St. Mary's 61 Derick Vranizar 09

Maddie Jackson 11

13. Coast Guard 64 Sam Ingham 11

Cesar Gonez 10

14. Christopher Newport 71 Ben France 09

Lynn Ball 09

15. Clemson 71 Reid Cabiness 10

Drew Lisicki 10

16. Wisconsin 88 Kevin Campell 09

Jenny Koningisor 09

17. Old Dominion 93 Katrina Williams 10

Rachel Pokorng 12

18. Tennessee 100 Douglas Toney 10

Adam Bonomo 11

 

B division = 6 Races

TOT

1. Eckerd 12 Andrew Keane 09

Nikki Butchart 10

2. Charleston 26 Will Weisman 10

Alyssa Aitken 12

3. Yale 32 Jane Macky 09

Marla Menninger 10

4. Boston U 34 Billy Martin 10

Alie Bittl 10

5. Vermont 40 Clinton Hayes 10

Ellie O'Brien 12

6. South Florida 40 Timothy King 09

Simon Sanders 10

7. Coast Guard 46 Jon Duffett 11

Jon Hom 09

8. Stanford 47 Oliver Riihiluoma 12

Ariane Fisher 12

9. Univ. Rhode Island 49 Matt Carmody 11

Carolyn Chaikin 10

10. Wisconsin 51 Leif Evensen

carrie Bargren

11. St. Mary's 60 Mike Kuschner 10

Claire Collie 09

12. UC/Santa Barbara 62 John Heineken 10

Christina Nagatani 11

13. Navy 67 Jason Carminati 12

Alice Hong 12, Saverio Maldari 12

14. Georgetown 76 Pete Johns 12

Rebecca Evans 12

15. Old Dominion 87 Thomas O'Bryan 10

Arianna Baker 12

16. Clemson 96 Annalee Bradley 11

17. Tennessee 99 Chris Smith 09

Paul Scruggs 12

18. Christopher Newport 102 Jessica Thal 12

Tyler Million 11

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 TOT

1

Charleston A 2 2 2 1 1 1 9

Cougars B 2 3 6 3 2 10 26

4 9 17 21 24 35 35

2

Eckerd A 7 6 1 7 5 2 28

Tritons B 4 1 2 1 3 1 12

11 18 21 29 37 40 40

3

Yale A 10 3 5 4 6 6 34

Elis B 6 7 1 6 7 5 32

16 26 32 42 55 66 66

4

Vermont A 3 1 3 3 9 14 33

Catamounts B 3 10 4 2 14 7 40

6 17 24 29 52 73 73

5

Boston U A 11 8 4 6 8 13 50

Terriers B 11 6 9 5 1 2 34

22 36 49 60 69 84 84

6

South Florida A 14 10 6 9 2 4 45

Bulls B 12 4 7 4 4 9 40

26 40 53 66 72 85 85

7

Univ. Rhode Island A 4 17 9 8 10 9 57

Rams B 13 9 3 8 8 8 49

17 43 55 71 89 106 106

8

Stanford A 12 15 12 2 12 7 60

Cardinal B 8 5 5 16 10 3 47

20 40 57 75 97 107 107

9

Coast Guard A 9 5 11 11 16 12 64

Bears B 7 11 12 7 5 4 46

16 32 55 73 94 110 110

10

UC/Santa Barbara A 5 13 16 14 4 5 57

Gauchos B 14 13 11 12 6 6 62

19 45 72 98 108 119 119

11

Navy A 8 9 15 5 7 8 52

Midshipmen B 10 8 13 11 11 14 67

18 35 63 79 97 119 119

12

St. Mary's A 1 11 8 15 15 11 61

Seahawks B 1 12 14 9 13 11 60

2 25 47 71 99 121 121

13

Georgetown A 6 12 14 16 3 3 54

Hoyas B 9 14 15 13 9 16 76

15 41 70 99 111 130 130

14

Wisconsin A 16 16 DSQ 10 17 10 88

Badgers B 5 2 10 10 12 12 51

21 39 68 88 117 139 139

15

Clemson A 13 7 7 13 13 18 71

Tigers B 18 17 17 15 16 13 96

31 55 79 107 136 167 167

16

Christopher Newport A 15 4 13 12 11 16 71

Captains B 15 16 18 18 17 18 102

30 50 81 111 139 173 173

17

Old Dominion A 17 18 10 17 14 17 93

Monarchs B 17 18 8 14 15 15 87

34 70 88 119 148 180 180

18

Tennessee A 18 14 17 18 18 15 100

Volunteers B 16 15 16 17 18 17 99

34 63 96 131 167 199 199

 

WINNING TEAM [after day 1]: Charleston

Nick Martin 10

Britney Haas 09

Will Weisman 10

Alyssa Aitken 12