Last week, the NESS 420 Race Team participated in 2 local events: The Larry White Regatta at Niantic Bay Yacht Club and the Dinghy Race, which started at Niantic Bay Yacht Club then went to Fishers Island Yacht Club and finally ended at Mystic Shipyard.

The Larry White Regatta is part of US Sailing Junior Olympics festival and is a multi-class, one day, standard course-racing affair. The sailors had 8 short races with a 31 boat fleet and our team finished 3^rd-8^th, 11^th, 13^th and 15^th. Our top finisher was Chris Annino and Adam Wiatrowski. Full results can be found here: https://www.regattatoolbox.com/results?eventID=xBwZAfBI7L

The Dinghy Race is a very unique event as it is a distance race broken into multiple legs, modeled after the Volvo Ocean Race. The main “stopover” was on Fisher’s Island (3 legs to get there, 3 legs to Mystic) and Friday morning all competitors participated in a beach clean-up. Ocean stewardship was a major theme through the event and for the second year in a row, the regatta achieved platinum level status from Sailor’s for the Sea for its sustainability initiatives. Iain Jaeger received the “Above and Beyond” award for his efforts during the beach clean up.

There were 51 boats participating in the race and our team members finished 2^nd, 5-8^th, 12^th, 22-24^th. Our top finisher was Baxter Menzies and Dylan Flack. https://www.regattatoolbox.com/results?eventID=Y2LC1RV6bY

We asked the team’s coach Nick Ewenson to reflect on last week, he said: “I’m really proud of the way the team handled themselves on and off the water for these events. Not only were we playing in the top half of the fleet and winning individual races, but we were also examples of teamwork and good sportsmanship as active participants in the beach walk and by arriving to the events with the biggest trailer to unload. A huge team effort by both the team members and their parents who volunteered at the regattas and helped move players and equipment around FI sound.”