The Duxbury HS sailing team took third place in Sunday’s competition for the O’Day trophy, qualifying the team for the Fleet Race Nationals/Mallory Trophy to be sailed at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD this weekend.

Fifteen teams from New England competed to get one of the top four spots, and Duxbury had earned its spot in the competition by winning its qualifier the previous week at the Courageous Sailing Club in Boston.{sidebar id=4}

The O’Day competition was originally scheduled for last Sunday at Portsmouth Abbey in Bristol, RI, but a lack of wind postponed the race until this past Sunday. It didn’t seem to make any difference, as wind conditions were non-existent.

If no races were sailed, the plan was to have the five qualifiers draw straws. The team that drew the short straw would not go to the Nationals. At 9:30 in the morning, all the coaches agreed to relocate the event to Tabor Academy (30 minutes away) in hopes of catching some wind.

The move proved a good choice temporarily, as the A-Division was able to get two races off before the wind shut down. In order to be considered a regatta, three races in the “A” Division and three races in “B” Division must be sailed. Sitting in postponement on the water for about two hours, the breeze finally came in from the north and the boats were able to finish off four races in each division.{sidebar id=1}

Duxbury’s Andrew Sommer, along with crew Addy White, took the “A” Division with a pair of first-place finishes, a fourth, and an eighth for 14 points

The Dragons’ “B” team of Zach Runci and Katie Gluskin in races one and two finished eighth and fourth, while races three and four saw Alyssa Seifert take Gluskin’s place when the boat finished seventh in the fourth race and was disqualified in the third race.

Runci’s boat finished in 10th place in Division “B”. 

“Andrew and Addy sailed great and they consistently show that they are the fastest boat in New England,” said Coach Hans Jensen. “Zach and his crew had a bit of a rougher time, but showed that they are right there. Runci’s finishes have not been representative of his sailing and a disqualification in a four-race regatta was a big blow.” 

In the last race of the day Runci proved he can handle the pressure, as he was caught over early at the start and had to restart, putting him in the back of the fleet. The racing had been tight all day and it was a toss up for who would qualify. Coming from second- to-last place, Runci and Siefert were able to gain boats the entire race one by one and ended up finishing seventh in the race, giving Duxbury some insurance to qualify for Nationals.{sidebar id=6}