Hoofer Sailing team breezes by competiton in Pere Marquette regatta
By Katlyn Putney
The Hoofer Sailing Team set off for Milwaukee late on Friday, Sept. 30 to compete in the Pere Marquette sailing regatta. The team–Phil Morley, Harrison Faust, Connor Trepton, Erin Kunkel, Dan Hanna, Peter Lewis, Bridget Murphy and Ella Stutz–arrived late that evening and quickly retired to be best prepared for the races in the morning.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, the team drove to the Milwaukee harbor to start sailing. A strong breeze from the northwest and crazy chop past the break wall presented significant challenges.
After the boats were finally put in the water, the team felt ready to start sailing. Phil and Dan started in division A for the first team and Peter and Harrison for the second. The first set of races went well for Phil, and Peter and stayed in the top half of the pack. After a painful on-the-water rotation, Connor, Ella, Bridget and Erin kept up the pressure in division B. After the racing was done on Saturday, Wisconsin sat in third place and seventh place.
The team went over to a local restaurant to watch the Badger vs. Nebraska game that night. After an exciting evening watching the Badgers destroy the Cornhuskers, the team got a great night’s sleep and were ready to win on Sunday.
Sunday was much warmer and the breeze settled down. After a quick few rounds of racing, the Badgers pulled ahead. The first team finished one point ahead of second place to take home the trophy. The second team locked in seventh place out of sixteen teams.
Photos by Ted Lemple Photography.
