Reprinted from the Texas
A&M University at Galveston website
by Teri Fowle
Director of Instiutional Advancement
Texas A&M University-Galveston
The
men's team beat 160 other boats to win their division and the entire
race.
The
men's team sailed the Reveille, named for Texas A&M's mascot.
The
all-female crew entered the regatta for the first time, and finished
first in their class.
(Galveston)—The TAMUG Offshore Sail Team entered two boats in the 19th Annual Harvest Moon Regatta and the all-male team sailing the Reveille won their division and the entire race beating 160 other boats in the fleet. The race started at the pier near the Flagship Hotel in Galveston October 13th and finished in Port Aransas the next day.
“To see these college students win against so much experience in the other sailors should be credited to excellent preparation by Capt. Jim Atchely, coach of the Offshore Sailing Team, 24 hours of constant attention to sailing fundamentals, and outstanding student leadership,” commented Steven Conway, safety officer aboard the Reveille.
The Reveille crew was lead by student skipper Aaron Drake. The men’s team had some experience on their side as Clark Maxwell, who was the student skipper on the Gypsy North which won in their division two years ago and Reid Eubanks, who also served as skipper of the Gypsy North in a past regatta.
The students started with an excellent start and were first across the starting line. They had mapped out a course and strictly adhered to their course and, according to Conway, maintained constant attention to the sails and course making the boat move as fast as it could the entire 24 hours and 25 minutes of the race.
In addition, the students had the benefit of a “match boat” for the last 12 hours of the race. “Typically in offshore racing, you barely even see another boat. It was great for the students to have another boat alongside, which, they knew was faster and had a more experienced crew. This made the students pay much closer attention to their course and sails and helped them win the race,” said Conway.
The TAMUG Offshore Sail Team, for the first time in the history of the campus, entered its first all female crew in the 19th Annual Harvest Moon regatta. The Gypsy North sailed with an all female crew with Michelle Spinelli serving as the student skipper. The ladies finished in first place in their class taking home the prestigious Luna Trophy for finishing first against all the other all female crews.
The ladies had less luck with the sailing conditions. “We left the starting line and were moving well the first day. On the second day, we lost wind and floated for 12 hours,” stated Michelle Spinelli, skipper of the Gypsy North.
Several boats gave up the race and motored into Port Aransas, however, the Sea Aggie ladies were determined to finish the race. When the wind picked back up, the ladies went from 1.5 knots to six knots and came sailing into Port Aransas almost 43 hours after leaving Galveston. It turns out they won the ladies division by about three minutes.
“When we heard the guys team won the entire regatta, we were so excited and everyone was yelling and congratulating the guys . . . then they announced our team won the Luna Trophy for finishing first among the ladies and it all broke loose,” exclaimed Spinelli. “We were definitely the underdogs as two college teams, this was really special.”
Although a few of the Sea Aggie ladies have sailed on the dinghy Sail Team and two joined the offshore team at the Kennedy Cup last year, the team of ladies have worked hard to “gel” as team over this first semester. “This is historic for TAMUG…an all ladies crew. It’s nice to win but even nicer to win as the first-ever all female crew,” Spinelli announced.