New England Summer of Skiffs

Ellie Glenn
Jul 8
3 min read

With travel restrictions and numerous pandemic related logistical challenges, COVID has made it difficult to plan in advance. It has also led to opportunities for growth as a team, such as teaching us to be flexible and being comfortable with uncertainty.

In late April it was announced that we had the opportunity to train in New England, featuring two regattas and the opportunity to line up with the Canadian FX teams.

With only 6 weeks, we needed to plan travel logistics, housing, and get a boat to the venue. We worked hard to change schedules, flights, and find a boat to make it happen and boy was it worth it!

Thanks to Phil Muller and Richard Feeny (2niner), Leandro Spina (ODP), Anna Tunnicliffe

(coach), Streamline Marine, and the Maccini Family, we were able to get to Bristol, Rhode Island where we set up camp out of Roger Williams University.

Though initially apprehensive about the venue and the time crunch, this great team came together and got us sailing.

Heading into the first few days of training, our chartered boat was missing a few major pieces (that you normally don’t travel with), which put us a day behind schedule. The hiccup didn’t deter us from pushing hard to get on the water and do what we needed to do. When we finally made it on the water, the venue and the squad made it all worth it.

The beach style launching, no mooring field or boats to go through, as well as the protected ramp made it easy for us to splash our boat and be instantaneously in a great place to sail. With the ability to stay close to shore (which came in handy during the thunderstorms) or to sail out under the Mount Hope Bridge which offered more open water, we were able to sail in a plethora of different conditions. Most often we saw either flat water ranging from 8-12 knots or a choppy 12-18 knots with lots of current.

The variable conditions and competition from the other teams left us constantly adjusting and making minor tweaks. We never left the boat park with an empty mind. This was exciting for us, as we had been isolated from other teams for the past four months, but had been training hard in that time, never letting our foot off the gas pedal. Now it was time to put that individual training to the test.

And we did, racing first in the New England Skiff Generation event, we finished 2nd. The following week gave us another opportunity to race with even more breeze and boats in the 49er North Americans! We finished 3rd at the North Americans, and came away with lots of valuable knowledge to reapply to our training.

After concluding the camp at Roger WIlliams University, Kelly took the next few weeks to sail in two IC 37 events in Newport, RI with Team Waka/Jawaka. Her role on the boat was at the bow, and what a learning experience that was! Spending time in a position away from the helm and being on a larger boat that amplifies the necessity of communication, provided new insights that can be brought back to FX. The whole team was great at communication and making changes when needed.

Look out for us in California this month, as we are training out of Alamitos Bay Yacht Club for the chance to sail in bigger breeze and waves.