In their first regatta of the year, the Wreckers fell short against the Darien Blue Wave despite the fact that they beat Darien in the preseason. | Photo contributed by Emily Bicks ’12

Despite blustery and overcast conditions, the Staples sailing team kicked off their season on April 6 with a regatta against Darien at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport. Winners of the regatta are decided by the team that can win two out of three races, and despite close finishes in both races, the Darien Blue Wave defeated the Wreckers in the first two races, taking the win.

“This was expected to be our toughest matchup of the season, but it ended up being really close so that gives us hope for the rest of the season,” Emily Bicks ’12 said.

The Darien roster was comprised of some very experienced sailors, including one female racer who has competed at the Worlds Competition and the Junior Olympics.

“Darien is a great team and we had some really close races so I am happy with the way the regatta went. The races were far closer than we had expected and I think that if we had avoided a few tough situations we could have beat them just as easily as they beat us,” co-captain Sarah Hyman ’11 said.

In a pre-season race on April 2 Staples was indeed able to beat Darien. Readers can watch the sailing team win this race by clicking here (Staples is in the yellow boats, and Darien in the red.)

However in the regular season matchup, Darien sailors took first and second place in the first race, but Bicks and Hyman came in for a close third place overall and first for Staples. Henry Dumke ’13 and Kelly Chang ’13 finished second for Staples and fourth overall, while Allison Blauvelt ’11 and P.J Syrrist ’13 followed finishing third for Staples, fifth overall. The gusty winds did make things more difficult; however Hyman believes that the Wreckers fared considerably well in the less than ideal conditions.

“While we are a very light team, I think that we have handled the rough conditions really well,” Hyman said. “We have been going out in many of the rough days, including a day of hail, and I think that the practice we’ve had in tough weather will help us sail in any condition on regatta days.”

The team’s next regatta is this Saturday when they will race against Green’s Farms Academy, Brewster Academy, and Greenwich High School.