The Turner Team Race

We had beautiful conditions on the Ashley River for the 3rd Annual Turner Team Race today with the sun out all day and temperatures in the high 70s. Breeze was 11-16 knots out of the SW when racing started in the early afternoon then shifted SSW and slightly dropped later in the afternoon to 5-12 knots. The tide was flooding until 3:37 PM then began a noticeable ebb for the final two flights. 1 Round Robin and the first flight of the 2nd Round Robin were completed. Thank you to all of our umpires, finish boat volunteers, coaches and sailors for a great day of racing. Looking forward to a bright & early 8:10 AM leave the dock by time tomorrow morning to get the fleet out on the Ashley River before the tide gets too low in The Citadel's channel.

Everyone was up bright and early with the ebb tide forcing a mandatory sail out time by 8:10 AM due to channel depth restraints. 35 races were sailed off of Brittlebank Park aka "The Charles of The South" in extremely shifty conditions out of the NE with the breeze coming directly off the Charleston 'skyline' onto the racecourse. Breeze was 5-10 knots in dead flat water all day. We had an ebb tide until 11:41 PM and the flood tide until the end of racing. Current was very noticeable at the start line and by marks 3 & 4, but nearly nonexistent at the top of the course next to Brittlebank Park. Really tight racing all day, especially in the Top 5 & Duke vs. FIT Classic rounds.

Congratulations to Florida State, Rollins, The Citadel & Clemson on securing the final four berths to the 2025 SAISA Open Team Race Championship at CofC in early April! We also had exceptionally close racing by UCF, FlT & Duke throughout the event. It's great to see the depth of team racing continue to grow in SAISA as a conference.

Thank you to all of volunteers who helped make the first regatta held off of The Citadel's campus in nearly four decades happen this weekend! This event was a huge logistical task with our 'new' fleet of 18x 2017 Zim FJs arriving just a week prior to racing and the South Carolina Corp of Cadets on Spring Furlough. Thank you to Esteban Forrer for being the SAISA rep this weekend and also running the Signal Boat & Rotations along with the other coaches on the water. A huge thank you our Chief Umpire Jack Sutton who did an incredible job along with all of our umpires this weekend: Caroline Williams, Connor Marion, Sean Groskoph, James Pine, Nathan Pine, Emmi Triplett and Evan Chenard. Another round of applause for our excellent crew of volunteers on the Finish Line: Barbara Hickson, Angela Dewitt & Ken Buck. And finally, we're grateful for Swain Boating Center Supervisor, Dale Tallent, for helping facilitate the launching/retrieving of boats and general use of the Boating Center throughout the weekend.

Photos from Citadel Professor Tom Thompson can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/o3Ko9a5qM5SDArxf7

We'd also like to give remembrance to Citadel Sailing Alum & former Team Captain Pete Sperr, Class of '81. Pete lived across the Ashley River and followed our practices from his backyard. Back when the team restarted in 2020, he was our first alumni to volunteer on Race Committee for our home regattas (his expertise was the finish line) and he continued doing so until his health wouldn't allow him to do so any further. Pete will be missed as a loyal alumni and family member of the team. He would have thoroughly enjoyed seeing this year's event take place on The Ashley River for the first time.