2025 Sailpack Oriental Intercollegiate Regatta

The 2025 Sailpack Oriental Intercollegiate Regatta began with a special breakfast provided by the Nautical Collective of Oriental and opening ceremonies at Bow to Stern Boating Center. The keynote was a warm welcome from the Mayor of Oriental, NC, Ms. Sally Belangia who shared her joy and that of the community to welcome so many young and talented sailors to their coastal town, the Sailing Capital of North Carolina. Followed by a boisterous Roll Call, and briefing from the RC, boats launched and sailed to the race course, located at the mouth of the Neuse River on the historic South Avenue waterfront. Breeze was 18-20mph out of the southwest, a favorable direction for shoreside spectating, and moderate chop. Early conditions were gusty and blustery with several capsizes on the first race, but as the day progressed the breeze stabilized around 15mph and competitive racing continued. Early races were led by South Forida, San Diego State, Jacksonville, Eckerd College, CNU, and even Univ. of Texas getting into the mix with a bullet. In B-Division, NC State, Clemson, and Eckerd College took control of the fleet, helping the host Wolfpack claw back into the top 5 before rotations. One breakdown was granted following a torn sail and broken hardware leading to a bye being issued in the rotation. As A-Division returned the climbing CNU, Jacksonville, South Florida, and NC State vied for overall lead while San Diego State and Texas A&M's A-Division continued to win races and challenge the east-coast field. The day sailing was finished with a full second set in A-Division and racers returned to shore to prepare for the evening's event. Average race times were 16-20 minutes all weekend.

Sailors, coaches, hosts, and lots of friends from Oriental convened at Bow to Stern for the evening's authentic North Carolina "pig pickin'" barbecue event. Pitmaster Jim Kellenberger welcomed everyone and offered his condolences to any vegetarians, received with laughter from the crowd. (Vegetarians were taken care of, don't worry!) As everyone progressed through the serving line, teams and townsfolks chatted and got to know each other. Live music from The Dunies (featuring NC State sailor Jojo Morgan) set the vibe right and people were in the groove. Cool evening temps, a breathtaking sunset on the Neuse River, and great hospitality put the cap on a perfect college regatta Saturday.

Sunday morning in Oriental started with breakfast provided to sailors and coaches from the Rotary Club of Oriental and glassy water led to a launch delay following the Sunday Roll Call and RC briefing. After a delay of about 30 minutes, the breeze began to fill in on the course and B-Division boats were launched. As the racers reached the South Avenue waterfront, the wind was blowing from the south and building to 12-15mph. Racing began promptly and teams picked up right where they left off on Saturday evening with CNU climbing, Clemson making their presence known, NC State now squarely back in the mix for the regatta win after a first-race capsized DNF, and JU and Eckerd continuing to tangle over SAISA South bragging rights. As the final B-Division set progressed, Eckerd, Jacksonville, CNU and NC State were each within just a few points of the lead and of each other. On the final race of the regatta, the outcome was still in question until the second downwind leg and on the strength of a final bullet and great last set, CNU secured the win followed by a tied Eckerd College and Jacksonville University rounding out the podium with the Tritons winning the tie-break for silver. Congrats to the CNU Captains for the win at the 2025 Sailpack Oriental Intercollegiate Regatta!

Special thanks to all of the generous hosts in Oriental who housed visiting sailors and coaches, as well as all of the volunteers on shore and on the water who helped make the entire weekend a success. Thanks and bravo-zulu to Capts. Jim and Alexis and the entire Bow to Stern team who kept the event and fleet on track. Well done to the NC State Wolfpack team who all pitched in to help make things happen all weekend. Significant Gnar earned over the weekend with NC State, Texas, and Texas A&M atop the final and very close jandings (3265 to 3240). Special thanks also, to all of the teams who traveled from all across the country to sail and race with us.

Lastly, thank you to the wonderful gem that is Oriental! We’ll see you again next spring…

Towndock coverage of the event including photos: https://towndock.net/news/2025-sailpack-regatta-

Photos from Ellie Fleming (Clemson, @ellisonblair): https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN0IErBOJ9DyUn9K2hH7iOq_5vB6QJ4zUGgOZBe8AjNBPCnVoVgF3iM9LW1U0BKZQ?key=X2F4ZndKNFVmcWtZSkpqaHhOc01Cc2dDSjlaenBn

Photos from Shea Hoffacker (NC State, @sheahoffacker): https://unknimg.duckdns.org/share/grG6_9n2rujfz-614bCC1dwf-9lm8tALuyJxsYEaqVju3xnrAASOCdFGySbBiDDkmEw

Photos from Joe Clark (Please contact him for free licensed use or commercial use. Credit any images used. Insta: @joe_clark_photographer) https://www.joeclarkphotographer.com/2025/04/02/sailpack-oriental-intercollegiate-regatta-2025/

The following chart shows the relative rank of the teams as of the race indicated. Note that the races are ordered by number, then division, which may not represent the order in which the races were actually sailed.

The first place team as of a given race will always be at the top of the chart. The spacing from one team to the next shows relative gains/losses made from one race to the next. You may hover over the data points to display the total score as of that race.