By Nick Judson
Contributing Writer
The Whalers sailing team traveled to Saquatucket Harbor in Harwich Monday to team-race against Harwich and Dartmouth High Schools. Foul weather had forced the postponement of all previously scheduled regattas, so this was Nantucket’s first appearance of the season.
Both Harwich and Dartmouth defeated the Whalers 2-0 in the best-of-three series. Due to high winds in the sound, the races were all held in tiny Wychmere Harbor off of Stone Horse Yacht Club. This site created unusual conditions, with a combination of extremely light winds and big puffs of wind that would sneak through the houses that surround the pond-like harbor.
In team racing, each team has three boats that maneuver against each other to create a winning score combination. A team gets one point for first, two for second, and so on. The team with the fewest points wins the race. The series or regatta is either a best of three or a best of five competition. Often in a race boats from opposite sides will pair off or go man-to-man with the goal of controlling their opponent and beating them across the finish line.
Against Harwich, the Whalers got off the starting line in good position, although one Nantucket boat with Adam Ceely with Nellie Morley and one Harwich boat were over early and had to re-start. The Nantucket boat made sure to keep their Harwich pair under control.
Sarah Erichsen and Meaghan Lynch was losing to their pair, so they started a tacking duel to force the Harwich boat to cover or mimic their maneuvers.
This strategy is a great way to slow a leading boat and allows your teammates to catch up or set up against your pair in the hopes of helping you pass your opponent. Erichsen and Lynch’s maneuver slowed their opponent and allowed Ceely and Morley to catch up to the group.
Meanwhile, Russell Bartlett and Jessie Lang were in control of their pair on the other side of the course. As all the boats converged Nantucket looked to be in control but its strategy unfurled at the last moment as four boats collided, two from each side. The Harwich boats were able to complete their penalty turns faster and took the lead in scoring which they held on to until the finish.
Race two was another close one with only two points separating the teams after the first mark. Bartlett and Lang did a great pass-back maneuver to get a teammate ahead of their pair but Nantucket was not able to capitalize on the move and as the conditions changed from gusty to almost nonexistent wind, Nantucket was not able to change gears in the new conditions and Harwich won race two and the series.
Against Dartmouth, the Whalers shuffled up their squad by putting Brian Chitester and Ben Rives in and switching Erichsen in as crew with Bartlett. With the new configuration Nantucket went up against one of the toughest teams in New England and probably the top school in the Cape and Islands League.
In both races Nantucket had a tough time getting off the starting line in clear air and Dartmouth showed why they it is of the toughest teams around by controlling the Whalers right from the start. At one point Ceely and Morley broke free and were almost able to take advantage of their pair but the wind died on their side of the course and Dartmouth was able to take control again. Lizzy Skokan came in to sail with Erichsen in race two as Nantucket tried some different crew combinations, but this did not seem to help as Dartmouth won the last race with a one-two-three finish, and clinched the series.
Nantucket will look to bounce back against Nauset away on Friday and at home on Saturday. The Whalers will sail out of the Boat Basin dock at 10:45 a.m. Saturday.
Nick Judson is the head coach of the Nantucket High School sailing team and the executive director of Nantucket Community Sailing.
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