October 17-19, 2008
2009 Cressy Trophy at Cornell
A five-strong team of FAST Laser full rig and radial sailors (qualifying with 5 of the 8 allotted slots out of New England via the Healy Trophy regatta in Wickford) attended the National High School Singlehanded Championship for the Cressy Trophy this past weekend in Ithaca, NY. The event was hosted by Cornell University and Hobart and William Smith Colleges at Cornell’s new sailing center on one of the Finger lakes. Laser Performance provided brand new boats for all – very nice. There were 18 Laser full rig and 18 Laser Radial sailors that qualified to attend the Cressy from around the US – having 5 FAST sailors there among the best in the country was great to see.
The event was very well organized and fortunate to have Charlie Cook as Principal Race Officer -- fresh from running the Laser races at the Olympics in China. After waiting for wind until after lunch both mornings, Charlie got a lot of good races in a limited amount of time. Both fleets got in 11 races on Saturday and 6 on Sunday in challenging conditions – chilly, shifty fall lake sailing at its best.
Only one senior in the FAST crowd, so hopefully the sophomores and juniors all get the opportunity to compete in this one again. More event pictures and video of sailors and individual races can be seen on a good new site www.sailgroove.org. Results can be found here.
 
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