Bermuda Sailors In Connecticut Sailing Champs

May 22, 2012

Three Bermudian sailors represented their respective secondary schools at the New England Schools Sailing Association (NESSA) Team Race Championship this past weekend at Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut.

Connor Astwood (Hotchkiss School), Mackenzie Cooper (Tabor Academy) and Alistair Hutchings (Milton Academy), all former Bermuda Optimist sailors [pictured below], battled each other on the Thames River in FJ dinghies.

Eight 3 boat teams were invited by virtue of regional qualifiers to sail for the NESSA title and the Fritz Mark Trophy. Wind was NE at 10 Knots, switching to SW at 10-12 knots for most of Saturday.

Tabor finished on top after Saturday’s double round robin with a record of 13 -1 with St. Georges School in a close second at 11 – 3. Next was Hotchkiss at 10 – 4 and Milton at 7 – 7. The top four teams earned the right to return for the Medal Round on Sunday, which included all the Bermudians.

Lighter winds prevailed on the second day but there were no major upsets on the water resulting in Tabor clinching the title (15 – 2), followed by St. Georges (14 – 3), Hotchkiss (11 – 6) and Milton (11 – 6).

Tabor and St George’s performance in the regatta earned them each a berth at the U.S. High School National Championships next weekend which will be sailed at MIT on the Charles River in Boston. The Tabor Academy “Seawolves” are currently the defending U.S. National Team Race Champions.

Mackenzie Cooper will have a chance to help defend Tabor’s NESSA title during his final year at Tabor next year. Connor Astwood is preparing to attend Boston University while Alistair Hutchings will be attending Sewanee, University of the South.

Since the origination of the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association (BODA), Bermuda sailors have gone on to play key roles on U.S. high school and collegiate teams, helping their institutions win numerous regional and U.S. national titles.

Recent Olympic qualifiers Jesse and Zander Kirkland are also products of the BODA organization and were both team captains for Tabor Academy and later St. Mary’s College (Jesse) and Tufts University (Zander).

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