2009 ICSA Dinghy National Championship, Hosted by Stanford and the St. Francis Yacht Club
THROGS NECK, NY - With big breeze and strong current for the entire regatta, Maritime shrugged off their day two woes with a commanding performance on the final day, improving from 14th to 9th overall and earning team members Todd Hawkins and Dani Gamache 7th place in A-Division and a spot on the 2009 All-America Team. B-Division sailors Dan Hesse and Matthew Brink guaranteed a top-10 finish for the Team with a 2nd and 9th in the final set, fighting off Harvard and passing the University of South Florida.
Sailed on the city front in San Francisco, these nationals didn’t disappoint for wind. With the forecast calling for winds in the high-teens and low-20s, Maritime was able to showcase their exceptional heavy crews, Bill Gallagher and Matthew Brink. The Privateers finished 8 races in each division on the first day, notching 9th place and eyeing a finish in the top-five.
Day two was a challenge for the Maritime, as the current changed mid-day and caused an upwind split in the fleet, with some teams headed to the shore for current relief and the other headed out into the channel for the dying ebb tide. Unable to hold a lane after several starts, the Privateers were bounced to the un-favored side and played catch up for the rest of the race. In the incredibly competitive fleet there were few passing lanes, and the Team suffered several finishes in the high-teens. Ending the day in 14th, the team knew that they had more fight in them.
Taking to the water for their final day of sailing in college, Hawkins and Gamache sailed an outstanding first A-division set to start the day. In their first race, their boat was flagged for “ooching”, a legal form of propulsion to initiate surfing. The umpires interpreted their movements as not to initiate, but to sustain surfing, forcing the Privateers to complete two 360-degree penalty turns and taking them from 1st to 5th. Not to be deterred, the Privateers capitalized on Yale’s boat being flagged for the same violation in the next race and surged ahead, earning 1st place. Sailing with heavy crew Gallagher in the last set, Hawkins notched a 3-5, good enough to win A-Division for the day.
Hesse and Brink showed fight in their last two sets as well, earning two seconds in their final four races. Knowing that they needed to beat Harvard and South Florida in the final race, Hesse engineered what appeared to be a flawless start at the favored pin end of the starting line. As they tacked to cross the fleet, their boat narrowly fouled and they were forced to spin a two-turn penalty to exonerate themselves. Now in last place, Hesse began to work his way back through the fleet using the current and his and Brink’s boatspeed to their advantage. Working the right side of the course flawlessly, Hesse picked off nine boats by the weather mark, consolidating their lead on the Crimson and passing the Bulls.
2009 Maritime Dinghy National Championship Team
Todd Hawkins ’09 - Skipper – Ocean Gate, NJ
Dan Hesse ’09 – Skipper – Bohemia, NY
Dani Gamache ’09 – Crew – Holland, MI
Matthew Brink ’09 – Heavy Crew – Babylon, NY
Nicole Kelly ’11 – Crew – Buffalo, NY
Bill Gallagher ’10 – Heavy Crew – Little Compton, RI