CHARLESTON, S.C., (September 11-12, 2021) – Saturday marked the start of the fall 2021 regatta season with the full conference Fall 2021 SAISA Coed Open Regatta hosted by the College of Charleston. Teams were met with light breeze and aggressive currents on Saturday morning with racing north of the USS Yorktown near the marsh. After a brief break, racing moved to Crab Bank where the afternoon breeze filled in providing good but somewhat unpredictable conditions for the second half of Saturday and Sunday morning. Sunday racing wrapped up around 1:30 as the breeze died while the current did not.
Through the full range of conditions, this week’s SAISA Coed Sailors of the Week, Florida State University seniors skipper Matteo Rodriguez (Winter Haven, FL) and crews Meghan Tilton (Middletown, DE) and Breanna Brobst (Madison, CT) found their way to the front of the fleet. After reaching the podium in the sixth race of the day, the Seminoles squad took a hold of the lead in A-Division and never looked back. Rodriguez and crew consistently found the balance of leveraging current, managing the shifts and surviving crowded roundings with clean air. Matteo, Meghan, and Breanna’s strong SOTW showing in A-division helped propel Florida State into fifth overall for the fall coed season opener.
With women’s squads representing Jacksonville and USF in the mix this past weekend, Jacksonville University’s senior skipper Charlotte Rose (Houston, TX) and freshman crew Rori Bywater (Arlington Heights, IL) survived early light and fluky conditions and as soon as the breeze filled in by race six, started to deliver podium finishes. The Lady Fins’ Rose and Bywater, sailing together for the first time competitively, found good chemistry fast, earning week 1 SAISA Women’s Sailors of the Week honors. The Jacksonville pair finished the regatta with low scores no higher than a 7th to secure 2nd overall in A-Division and put the Lady Fins into 2nd overall for the regatta. Congratulations to all of week 1’s SAISA Sailors of the Week!
# # #
About the SAISA Sailors of the Week
Each week of the season, we’ll recognize outstanding performances by sailors across SAISA, as well as by SAISA sailors in competition out of conference. The selection process includes a nomination period each week ending on Sunday. A committee of SAISA coaches from both divisions selects sailors from the nominations received and will announce the SAISA Sailors of the Week early each week following the close of the nomination period. If you’d like to submit a nomination, email the sailor’s name, school, position, and what events or circumstances they demonstrated outstanding performance to SAISAsotw@gmail.com. Nominations close on Sunday at midnight EST and selections will be based on performances for the preceding week and that weekend. Selection categories may include co-ed skipper, co-ed crew, women’s skipper, women’s crew. Pairings or individual sailors may be nominated or selected.
For more information, visit the SAISA website at www.saisasailing.com/sotw