New era of JU Sailing begins; team finishes sixth in Charleston

By Jon Faudree/Head Sailing Coach

A new era of Jacksonville University Sailing began last weekend at the College of Charleston at the South Atlantic Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (SAISA) Open Regatta.

JU Sailing has risen quickly through the ranks of SAISA in a year. At the end of last fall, the team was ranked 20^th of the 27 teams in the conference. This weekend, the team finished sixth, but since reigning national champion Charleston fielded two teams, JU actually was fifth out of the SAISA teams and could have easily challenged for third. The team opted to treat the weekend as a glorified practice trying different skipper and crew combinations. We were less worried about results, focusing more on the experience and finding what combinations worked well in what conditions.

In A-Division, freshman Skipper Danny Lawless started with junior Crew Karolina Dzieniszewski, and the two sailed very well right out of the blocks. Freshman Alex Steo rotated in for races 7-12, finishing off Saturday’s racing with freshman crew Tori Caba.

Freshman Ian Ikeda together with freshman Crew Hannah Knighton started their college sailing careers off with a bang, winning the first race and going on to rack up a very consistent string of finishes with only one double-digit score. Dzieniszewski switched in for Knighton after race 12 and the two continued to finish right at the top of the fleet.

Knighton switched in the boat with Lawless to start Sunday’s racing, racking up three great races, scoring two fifths and Lawless’ first and Knighton’s second college win in race 15. Steo then switched in for the final three races, splitting time with Knighton and Caba as crew.

In B Division, senior Roy Ingham finished the last four races with help from Dzieniszewski and sophomore Matt Martin as crew.

All eight members of the team that travelled sailed throughout the regatta. It was a great opportunity to try many different combinations of skippers and crews.

We have a much better idea coming away of what worked well and what we need to focus on for the rest of the season. We now know that we can break into the top four in SAISA and possibly challenge USF and Eckerd for the top three spots. It is an exciting time to be involved with this team as we look to not only be one of the best teams in SAISA, but also break into the top 20 in the nation.

The team travels to Rollins College this weekend.

Click here for the Charleston results.

To see more pictures from the Charleston competition and other sailing updates, visit (and please like) the JU Sailing Facebook page.

See you on the water ~~_/)~_/)~~