After the long ride to Annapolis on Thursday, Coaches Hans Jensen and Rob Knecht had the sailors practice on the waters of the Severn River on Friday in preparation for their pursuit of the Mallory Cup.

The Duxbury High School sailing team made its case for being one of the best high school programs in New England when it finished 11th in the 40-boat field at the National HS Fleet Racing Championships in Annapolis, MD over the weekend.

Four teams from New England were represented, and the Dragons finished second among those four schools.

After the long ride to Annapolis on Thursday, Coaches Hans Jensen and Rob Knecht had the sailors practice on the waters of the Severn River on Friday in preparation for their pursuit of the Mallory Cup.{sidebar id=4}

Representing Duxbury at the Nationals were Andrew Sommer, Zach Runci, Julia

Leonard, Addy White, Katie Gluskin, Alyssa Seifert, Chelsea Maguire, and Leo Connolly.

Two fleets sailed in two different boats: an FJ and a club 420.

Andrew Sommer sailed in the A Division on Saturday with Addy White, before switching over to Leo Connolly on Sunday when higher winds required more weight in the boat. Sommers’ two-day point total for the 20 races left him 10th in the A Division.

Division B action saw Zack Runci with Katie Gluskin on Saturday, while Alyssa Seifert took over for Gluskin in the heavy wind conditions on Sunday to help Runci’s boat finish seventh in the B Division.{sidebar id=1}

Sommers did manage to win one of his 20 races, while Runci’s best effort was a second-place finish. At the end of Day 1 of the two-day event, Duxbury was in 10th place.

On Sunday morning the Dragons edged their way up to seventh place in the early going, but increasing wind conditions hampered the Duxbury boat in the last two races and saw the team drop to 11th.

“I’m very proud of our sailors,” said Coach Hans Jensen. “With such a young team, next year looks promising.”

Coach Ron Knecht added, “I was very pleased with the Duxbury sailors level of composure at this national event.”