Connecting College Sailors to Big Boat Racing

Over 430 college sailors raced on 52 owner-coached keel-boats over Columbus Day Weekend (October 11-12) in the Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta (IOR) sailed in Western Long Island Sound. The team from the University of Toledo sailing the Express 37 Troubador was the overall winner after winning three races and finishing second in two races in the 10-boat PHRF class. The Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta is organized by the Storm Trysail Foundation (STF) and the Larchmont Yacht Club and this year was led by Regatta Chairman Barry Gold. The goal of the IOR is to introduce dinghy sailors to the fun and teamwork of big boat racing, which is a new aspect of the sport to many dinghy sailors. It also gives college sailors with big boat skills a chance to compete in some of the best-prepared boats around. The 52-boat fleet was divided up into five classes: 12 IRC 32′-43′ boats, five J/44s, 13 J/109s, 10 PHRF boats and 12 J/105s. Roger Williams University won the 12-boat J/105 class sailing Jeremy Henderson’s Conundrum that posted a tally of 1-2-2-3-1 for a mere 9 points. Second was Boston University aboard Rob Alexander’s Young American, and in third was the University of Wisconsin racing Josh Burack’s Peregrina. In this highly competitive fleet, Princeton University took fourth on Gary Myer’s Magic, and rounding out the top five was US Naval Academy 2 onboard Za Jelliffe’s Arete.