College of William and Mary

Leroy Grant Regatta

Skipper Trevor Nederlof (’11), crew Erin MacCausland (’14), first-time regatta skipper Annie Mercurio (’12, myself), and crew Sean Orzolek (’14) enjoyed a merry car ride down to the historical city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Weather forecasts predicted slow winds and light rain on Saturday morning, only to precede clear skies and strong winds in the afternoon and on Sunday. The forecast proved to be correct, as “B” Division sailors (Sean and myself) waited for nearly two hours for Trevor and Erin to come in from the everlasting first two “A” Division races. Soon, however the winds picked up, blowing around 15 knots, and gusting up to 20 knots. Skippering for the first time in an intercollegiate regatta, I was quite nervous when I saw several other teams capsize, and despite our best efforts, Sean and I ended up in the James River, too! While rounding the side mark going downwind in a Gold Cup Triangle course, our boom swung violently, causing us to lose balance and the boat to capsize. We courageously fought against a bounding current and what seemed like extra strong gravity, and righted our boat in time for the second race of that round. Trevor and Erin, on the other hand, did quite well in each of their races, coming in 6th several times, and even 4th in one race, out of ten boats. On Sunday, the regatta continued and “B” Division sailed four races while “A” Division completed their two remaining races in one round. Although our overall rankings may not show outstanding success, I was very proud of my maneuvering and unexpected confidence during the start sequences, and I was proud of the rest of my teammates for keeping up a positive attitude and consistently striving for the best, despite wild wind conditions on the river.

-Annie Mercurio (’12)