Hello, Seahawks and welcome back! This is your captain Kate Johnson speaking.
This weekend, I accompanied our Seahawks to watch their performance at the O'Toole regattas; Our Seahawks provided a fierceness that matched the breeze that would typically fright underclassmen crews and skippers.
For more experienced crews, nervousness surrounding big breeze often dissipates by getting more time in those conditions. This weekend provided high velocity with sudden shifts which tends to amplify the nervousness around the breeze. Even so, one notable crew stayed as calm as the eye of the storm, Emma Sharpe '25.
Emma joined our team this Fall and, despite having no previous sailing background, her athleticism and dedication to learning the sport has enabled her to develop quickly. As a senior, I find comfort in knowing that Sharpe holds such a strong desire to learn and continue improving.
Her dedication in the classroom and at practice has translated into great results this weekend on the water. Having practiced with this weekend's crew Emma '28 on multiple occasions, I feel more than confident in her capabilities and can certainly say that she lives up to her last name.
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On Saturday, March 22, our Salve sailors headed north to compete at the O'Toole Fleet Race Regattas, hosted by Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Great Herring Pond. The Seahawks placed third overall on Saturday and first overall on Sunday. Both rosters included skipper Olivia Lowthian '25 who sailed with crews Caelan Haddock '25 and Shannon Gondoly '25, and skipper Emil Tullberg '25 with crew Emma Sharpe '28.
Reflecting on the weekend, the team's Head Coach, Brittney Manning, explained, "The conditions [last] weekend were challenging. Strong winds coming over high points of land created unstable breeze that varied widely in direction and velocity."
Manning's observations were echoed by first year athlete, Sharpe. However, the conditions and seniority of the rest of the roster only built her enthusiasm for the weekend. She eagerly expressed, "It was an eventful regatta, and I was thrilled to be racing with my captains, who I look up to immensely!"
Despite the breeze strength, Sharpe also explained how the added challenge proved to be an opportunity, "The wind conditions were sporty, and it proved to be a challenge, but it pushed me to implement the focuses that we discussed in practice."
Sharpe read wind, or "pressure", on the water to communicate the wind direction and velocity changes to her skipper, Tullberg. "Because the wind was so shifty, tracking the pressure was huge. Calling big shifts and anticipating changes in direction called 'knocks' and 'lifts' also allowed us to maintain our straight-line boat stability," Sharpe clarified.
Manning was impressed by Sharpe's quick application of classroom discussion; "I was especially excited to see how well Emma [Sharpe] applied information we just introduced last week."
Manning shared that "most of our Seahawks at these two regattas were seniors with solid strategic foundations."
Overall, Manning expressed that she was, "pleased with how our athletes are applying training principles to more complex racing environments." She recognized that, "the time we spent focusing on straight-line boat speed over spring break showed. Our athletes looked stable and fast relative to the competition." Saturday's breeze caused many other teams to capsize, so stability was essential.
The success at the O'Toole regattas can be attributed to the team's hard work throughout spring break as well as Coach Manning's intentional design of our season's goals and each practice plan. Manning explained that the team has "been focusing on setting targeted goals for each week that break down a nuanced element of racing. Regattas are the best opportunity to evaluate how these training blocks in small practices translate to competition in larger fleets."
The overall morale of the team was high after this weekend. "The regatta was a ton of fun, and a great way for me to execute racing strategy on the water that we are learning in classroom sessions," Sharpe explained.
While enjoying a strong start to the season, the team has turned their sights to preparations for next week's regattas:
