Marblehead Fishwagons take down rival Swampscott

The MHS Sailing team was very busy over the April vacation week.  Even though their Thursday regatta was rescheduled to heavy wind, the Fishwagons still faced off against Swampscott in a team race on Tuesday and competed in the O’Day Qualifier at Pleon on Saturday.  Marblehead won on Tuesday against Swampscott but sadly did not qualify for the O’Day Trophy on Saturday, losing by a mere two points.  However the team sailed very well and had a great week.

It was a beautiful day of racing on Tuesday when Swampscott High School came to Pleon to race Marblehead. There was some very good breeze and sunny weather throughout the afternoon. The two teams team raced each other in the Harbor and five races were sailed. Marblehead won four of the five and Swampscott won the other race.

On Saturday, twelve teams came to Pleon for the O’Day Qualifier with the top four teams qualifying for the O’Day Trophy the next day.  It was a cold and rainy day of racing, with the morning rain turning to showers in the afternoon.  The race committee was able to get off 16 total races (eight for A Fleet and eight for B Fleet) even with the shifting breeze causing them to alter the course a few times.  There was a light, steady breeze throughout the day though.  Peter Lynn (skipper) and Katie Rodger (crew) sailed the first set of A Fleet races for Marblehead with Katie then switching to B Fleet to sail with Will Hundahl (skipper) for the rest of the day. Marika van Dusen then crewed in A Fleet for the rest of the day. Marblehead sailed very well and ending up winning A Fleet overall. However, the Fishwagons were two points behind the fourth place team and just missed qualifying for the O’Day Trophy. There were some very good teams at the qualifier which provided some competition for the Fishwagons. However, the team sailed well and was sure not to make any mistakes twice.  The Fishwagons ended up with nine top five finishes and 83 points overall for the regatta.

It was a great week of sailing with the Fishwagons doing well at the qualifiers and winning their team race against Swampscott.  The Fishwagons don’t have any regattas scheduled for the next week, however they will be practicing Monday through Thursday after school so grab your shades this afternoon and come watch the sailing from any spot in the harbor!