The BUSA Team have been involved in their first events of the Tour over the past weekend.
A team of Mark Lees, David Cheshire, Andy Bryson, Jamie Reid, Ali Hall, and manager Chris Guy competed in the final USTRA event of the year at Bowdoin College, Maine. This National team racing event was sailed in three fleets of new Rondar larks, and competing teams came from Tufts, Boston College, Brown and Connecticut Universities and two teams from the hosts, Bowdoin College. The team sailed a series of round robin and knockout leagues, and from a slow start on Saturday, they fought their way to the top of the rankings, beating Brown University 3-0 in the final. This bodes well for the forthcoming dinghy team racing Trophy match which will take place on the 25th September at St. Mary’s College, Maryland.
Four hundred miles further South, Andy Cornah, Sam Carter, and Chris and Ian Martin were competing in the Harry Anderson regatta hosted by Yale University. Tricky conditions in this grade 1 college regatta as well as a strong showing from some of the top sailors in the United States meant that the team were unable to show their true potential. Andy Cornah and Sam Carter finished 16th in the A division whilst Chris and Ian finished 12th in the B division out of 24 competing teams.
Prior to this event, the whole squad spent two very enjoyable days training with the host team out of the brand new state of the art Yale Sailing Centre at Short Beach Connecticut. American college sailors train at least four days a week, then travel to regattas at the weekends. In addition, all major sailing colleges have full time coaches – usually national or international champions themselves – and additional staff to oversee the sailing program.
The squad will re-convene in Newport, Rhode Island this week to train with the University of Rhode Island and Brown university before travelling inland to another Ivy League University, Dartmouth College, at the weekend.
Visit www.busa.co.uk for regular updates of the team’s progress.
Mark Lees (Team Captain)/ Chris Guy (Team Manager)