Charleston, S.C. – Rollins wrapped up competition at the SAISA Open Singlehanded Championships on Sunday, a conference title regatta sailed in Lasers under a singlehanded scoring format. After completing four races on Saturday, the 13-boat fleet returned to the water for the final six races to close out the 10-race series.
Caleb Kinnear paced the Tars with a sixth-place finish overall, recording top-ten results in every race. He added three more top-five efforts on Sunday to go along with the three he notched on day one, finishing with 53 points. Matthew Sexton turned in his best race of the event in race nine, placing sixth, and closed the regatta with 95 points.
Tampa, Fla. – Rollins also competed at the USF Trophy on Sunday, a fundamental regatta hosted by the University of South Florida. The event was sailed in FJs using a two-division scoring format.
Seventeen teams began racing in a 7–9 knot northeasterly breeze inside Bayboro Harbor, where flat water but shifty conditions in strength and direction challenged the fleet. Jacksonville won the event with 27 points. Seventeen teams opened the day in a steady 7–9 knot northeasterly breeze. Racing was moved inside Bayboro Harbor to help with rotations, leaving flat water but bringing plenty of shifts in both strength and direction.
Three races were completed in A Division, followed by three in B. As race 4A got underway, the breeze faded to about 4 knots and shifted east before sliding further to the ESE by the finish. To keep the divisions balanced, race 4B was sailed, and racing was called for the day at 1:45 p.m. All races were sailed on the W4 course, ranging from 12 minutes in the breeze to 19 minutes when the wind eased. No protests were filed.
Rollins turned in a solid effort, with the Blue team finishing seventh and the Gold team close behind in eighth. The Tars' best performance came from Blue's B Division boat, as skipper Adelaide Matzky and crew Cameron Kinnear tallied 22 points and posted a third-place finish in the final race of the day. The Blue team totaled 63 points overall, with Alexander Goldsmith skippering in A Division. Gold's A Division tandem of Jack Adderley (skipper) and Mollie Wood (crew) added two fourth-place finishes and 26 points, while Noah Belson and Maggie Burnham competed in B Division, bringing the Gold team's total to 71 points.
The Tars return to action next weekend, splitting the squad between Charleston, S.C., for the SAISA Match Race Championship and the home-hosted SAISA Women's Top 9 Invitational.
