Newport Harbor Sailing Foundation: Sailor Stories
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Dylan Sih at the CJ Buckley Regatta
Thank you so much for the support of my trip to East Greenwich, Rhode Island, to compete in the 2021 CJ Buckley Regatta for the Club 420 Association National Team Racing Championship. After 2 days of tireless racing in blistering heat, our team finished well, placing 3rd out of 22 teams.
Prior to the event, we had two training days near the venue. The first practice day was very light, and the wind did not pick up until late in the afternoon. So, for the first half of the day, we had a long briefing and went over all the plays and situations. This was good as most of our whole group hadn’t team raced since the high school season, so it was a good way to refresh our memory and get back into it. The second day was much windier, and we were able to get many good races and drills in. After we finished up the second training day, we loaded our trailer and towed our boat over to Goddard Park, where we rerigged, and double checked our settings.
On the first day of the regatta, we launched at 10:30, waited a little for the wind to fill, then started nonstop racing. In total, the race committee got 99 races off, and had the signal box running for over 4 and a half hours straight! Of our 9 races, we won 6 and lost 3 to the Los Huevos who ended up winning the regatta, WCBC who placed 2nd, and Sail 1 Design who was winning the regatta, but then retired as one of their sailors had aged out. However there were 6 or 7 teams that also had our same win record, so coming out of the first day, we were in a huge tie for second place.
On the second day, we got a couple races off and we just managed to squeeze into the top 4 and make it into the semifinal knockout series. We were seeded against Los Huevos in a best of 3, but unfortunately, we didn’t start very well and lost to them in 2 races. WCBC beat Scott’s Tots 2-1 in the other seed, so we were then matched against Scott’s Tots in a best of 5 series for 3rd and 4th place. We started very well in the first race against them, and had a fairly easy 1, 2 breakaway. The next race started the same, and it seemed like we would have an easy 2-0 lead against them, but due to lack of communication and delayed slowing, there was a last minute pin and we ended up losing the second race, evening the score. On the third race, we had even starts with Scott’s Tots, but we were able to out team race them, and put ourselves in a stable play 2: 2, 3, 4. We were on the final beat, but unfortunately, mother nature did not cooperate. The wind shut down and flipped 180 degrees, so the race committee was forced to abandon the race. It took a long time for the breeze to fill back in, and during the wait, the race committee announced that, due to time constraints, it would be a best of 3 instead of best of 5, meaning the next race would be for all the marbles. Our team was able to stay calm and keep our heads in the game, and as a result, we dominated the start, and held a commanding 1, 2, 3 all the way to the finish, landing us in 3rd place overall.
Thank you so much again for your generosity and support! I had a really amazing time here! Not only did I get to spend several days team racing, which in my opinion, is the most fun type of sailing, but I also got to meet a ton of college coaches, both during college night and on the water. This was a great experience for me, and I really appreciate your consideration!