CHARLOTTESVILLE, V.A., October 20, 2013 – NC State sailors started the day winning the first two races of the day and never looked back, carrying the lead wire-to-wire at the 2013 Virginia Open regatta hosted by the University of Virginia. NC State, representing the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA) conference, joined a field of teams from the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (MAISA) including the host team, University of Virginia, University of Delaware, University of Maryland, Salisbury University, and Virginia Tech for the two-day regatta on Lake Anna just northeast of Charlottesville, Virginia. Although they never gave up the lead, Wolfpack sailors faced strong competition from the University of Virginia and University of Delaware who finished the regatta in second and third respectively.
"As this was an out-of-conference regatta, we saw teams this weekend that we don’t regularly see, but our sailors sailed well and fast in light conditions from the very start,” said Dana Magliola, one of NC State’s volunteer coaches. “Despite leading, they never got complacent. They fought for position all day, getting good starts off the line, keeping boat speed up, and quickly adapting to the range of conditions they faced.”
Day two of the 2013 Virginia Open brought sunny skies and more wind. Here NC State and UVA lead the field following the start of race 8A.
“Saturday was light and shifty. We had to connect the dots from each puff of wind to the next on the racecourse. Our skippers and crew were vigilant and it paid off with strong results on the first day,” said NC State race team captain David Rogers (Jr., Mt. Pleasant, SC). “Sunday was slightly heavier breeze, so starts and course tactics played a larger role. All in all it was a great two days of sailing and a good win for the team!”
In A-division, skipper Benton Morton (Sr., Wilmington, NC) and crew Andrew Edwards (Fr., Aiken, SC) dominated A-fleet winning their first three races in the division only to add three more “bullets,” first-place finishes, over the remainder of the 10 races on the weekend. In B-division, skipper David Rogers and crew Ian Duffy (Fr., Charleston, SC) got off to a slower start than A-division, but had secured the lead in B-fleet by the fourth race. Rogers and Duffy also finished the regatta with six “bullets” in their division while showing strong consistency not finishing any race lower than third over the course of the regatta. Full regatta results from the 2013 Virginia Open are available HERE.
The Sailing Club at NC State was founded in 1954 and remains the oldest active student sports organization at North Carolina State University. As a part of the Sailing Club, NC State fields both coed and all-women's competitive sailing teams to race in fall and spring seasons against other university sailing teams from around the country. The SailPack Foundation supports the sailing team and club, as well as sailing in the Triangle community. For more information about the program or foundation, visit www.SailPack.org.
The above photograph from the regatta is available for use in print or online with attribution. Click HERE to download in high resolution. Pictured (L to R): Nick Henderson, (Sr., Oxford, NC), Ian Duffy (Fr., Charleston, SC), David Rogers (Jr., Mt. Pleasant, SC), Benton Morton (Sr., Wilmington, NC), Andrew Edwards (Fr., Aiken, SC), Dana Magliola (Asst. Coach). © SailPack Foundation
