Sailing Finishes Sixth at Clark Open

NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Mitchell College sailing team finished in sixth place at the Clark Open on Sunday, an event hosted by the Coast Guard Academy on the Thames River.

Tufts University placed first in the field of 10, with Coast Guard, Maine Maritime, New Hampshire and Roger Williams rounding out the top five. The Mariners finished just six points out of fifth place and seven out of fourth in the strong field.

Skippering for Mitchell was junior Alex Hering with crews of Brendan Griffiths, Mike D'Amico, Jared LaFosse-Baker and newcomer Eli Smith.

After the first day of strong southeasterly winds blowing up to twenty, Mitchell stood in fifth place and only three points out of fourth and seven points out of third. The day was highlighted by a second-place finish in the fourth race. Tufts dominated Saturday by finishing in the top three in six of seven races.

Sunday saw a due Easterly wind with northeasterly shift, but with pressure only building to a high of five or six knots. Mitchell struggled in the light air and dropped one place in the standings with finishes of sixth, seventh and eighth in the final three races.

"We have to remind ourselves that last year we were not this competitive," said head coach Bill Furgueson. "Last year we could not consistently fly the spinaker, and we were closer to the back end of the fleet. But this year we were closer to the top end. Mitchell College made a great statement this weekend. While we did not close like I had hoped, we beat teams could not have beaten last year. I am so proud of the team's growth and look forward to the rest of the season."