United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Sailing - Offshore Team finishes 3rd in Manhasset Bay Yacht Club Fall Series

Port Washington, NY--(10/22/07)--The fall 2007 Manhasset Bay Yacht Club Fall Series set the stage for two milestone achievements by the US Coast Guard Academy Offshore Racing Team. This event marked the first time that the Coast Guard Academy has placed in a J/44 One Design event, as well as the first placing in a Manhasset Bay Fall Series. J/44 Glory sailed into a 3rd place finish, missing 2nd by only 1 point.

The racing was spread out over four days on two consecutive weekends. The race committee opted to do multiple W4 (windward-leeward twice around) courses on both Saturdays and a single race on each Sunday. The first Sunday was certainly a highlight in the series, as the fleet sailed a 17 nautical mile distance race around government buoys. Glory led the J/44 fleet holding first place for the entire day, but took second in a nail-biting finish. Charlie V managed to get an inch of bow over the finish line as Glory had a spinnaker wipe-out in a big puff seconds before the finish. As the Glory crew frantically hauled in a trailing spinnaker, Charlie V pulled the trigger.

The next weekend Glory had some great finishes with a 3,2,4,3 putting the Coast Guard on the board. This event signifies a changing of the guard in the J/44 fleet as the Coast Guard Academy has begun to become a consistent force to be reckoned with at these events.

Glory sailed with 10 cadets and one safety officer for the entire regatta, however slightly different groups of cadets raced aboard each weekend. Brad Peifer skippered the first weekend as Nick Custer called tactics. Custer took the helm for the second weekend as specialist spinnaker trimmer Brian Komlos called upwind tactics. Jim Tynan finessed the main both weekends, while Matt Colla was on the foredeck, doing bow the first weekend and moved to the mast the second. The Safety Officer for both weekends was Assistant Coach York Bergin-Pugh.

The Coast Guard Academy Offshore Racing Team would like to thank the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club Race Committee for an awesome event, and J/44 class president Jim Bishop for his encouragement and hospitality aboard the Coastal Queen. This perfect event was met with a breathtaking ending as 7 cadets and their safety officer transited Glory from American Yacht Club in Rye, NY back to the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT under a breathtaking full moon.