Sail team competes at the first regatta of the 2016-17 SEISA Series
The sail team recently competed in the first regatta of the 2016-17 South East Interscholastic Sailing Association (SEISA) South Points Series, finishing a respectable 24th out of 26 teams. The event, which was hosted by Shorecrest Preparatory School at the Davis Island Yacht Club, features some of the best varsity high school teams in the region, including Tampa Riverview, H.B. Plant, Ransom Everglades, and St. Thomas Aquinas.
Chris Hastrup ‘17 and Emma ‘19, his sister, competed as team A and Carlos Riva Bahnsen ‘18 and Ethan Lipsky ‘18 teamed up as the B squad.
Each school had two teams of two sailors compete during a day that began with a light breeze of just three to four knots. The race was postponed for about two hours until a solid eight knot sea breeze kicked in and allowed the sailors to complete four full sets. Riverview ended up finishing first.
“It was a very competitive race with teams that have sailors who have been on boats since an early age,” said Farragut sailing coach Rebecca Hofmeister. “For us to have finished and actually compete is an amazing thing. If we continue working on things during practice and we have some more people join the team, we could possibly compete for the top.”
For Ethan, it went by in a blur.
“I’ve never sailed in one of those regattas so it was pretty chaotic at first,” said Ethan, who is a seven-day boarder. “It was great to get out there, though, and see what we are capable of doing. We ended up doing better than I thought we would. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do in the next race.”
The team will sail in three more races before the winter break and then sail in four regattas in the spring for a chance to compete in May 2017 for the Baker Trophy Interscholastic Sailing Association National Trophy.
