Duxbury Wins Gleekman Trophy

Duxbury Wins Gleekman Trophy

The day was a great fall day, bright and sunny, with the foliage in bright color on the Boston shore. After a 2-hour delay, a 4-knot breeze filled in from the southwest for the first race. The second race got off after a short delay when the wind dissipated. The rest of the racing went well until a sea breeze built in under the Longfellow Bridge, pushing the SW breeze up river to the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, causing another short delay. Although the wind was light and variable, we managed to get 8 races in fair conditions, 4 in each division, before the wind finally gave up.

Our own Duxbury Dragons won 6 out of 8 races this past Sunday (Oct 12) at the Fall Funfest held at Community Boating in Boston to ensure a 1st place finish. This is the best result the Duxbury High School team has had at the event. For A-division Addy White crewed for Andrew Sommer and in B-division Katie Gluskin crewed for Zach Runci. On call we had Allison Shane ready to sub in. This dominating performance shows the level talent on the Duxbury High School team and the hopes of a promising upcoming spring season!

A division = 4 Races, B division = 4 Races

A B TOT
1. Duxbury HS 20 4 24
2. Stonington HS 14 24 38
3. North Yarmouth Academy 24 20 44
4. Cambridge R. & L School 20 39 59
5. Sharon HS 23 36 59
6. Brewster Academy 30 42 72
7. Natick HS 30 46 76
8. Brighton HS 51 32 83
9. East Lyme HS 41 43 84
10. Northern Vermont HS 35 52 87
11. Cape Elizabeth HS 49 39 88
12. Xavier HS 45 48 93
13. North Kingstown HS 48 51 99
14. Nauset HS 66 40 106
15. Portland HS 55 52 107
16. Marblehead HS 66 43 109
17. Falmouth HS (ME) 50 59 109
18. Cheverus HS 54 57 111
19. B B & N 47 70 117
20. Champlain Valley HS 72 49 121

Here is the message from Matt Pavini who coached a victorious team at the Gleekman:

When we arrived at CBI, there was no wind whatsoever. We all hung out for a bit talking about what to look for if the wind actually picks up. I mentioned my friend Tom, who grew up sailing Mercuries and runs the program out there, and sure enough Zach goes right up and asks him for tips. Tom later told me that ‘one of your kids came up and asked me the right questions. Let me know how he does.’ (For those of you who don’t know, but I used to work at CBI for a few years and still know a lot of people there. I was very happy to hear that they were already representing us well.) We waited for the wind to pick up for a few hours. We sat around the picnic table playing with my puppy Lazu and various games on our iPods and phones. As the races began the kids always came right up to me during the breaks to give me status updates. Full of smiles and high fives they would hit the water, excited to be there and ready to have as much fun as possible.

Towards the end of the day Andrew and Addy came to me and said they got protested. They explained what happened and I could see that they were right. I sat in on the protest meeting and couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. Andrew was up against two kids who couldn’t keep their stories straight and were obviously making things up as they went along. To be honest, I think I was showing all my emotions on my face and in my body language (I was wicked mad as I tend to do when I see people go out of their way to lie and cheat) but Andrew stood there; listening quietly to what they said and responded in the most mature manner possible. He tripped them up a few times and the protest was thrown out. It was after this that I realized, our kids walked away learning the life lessons from sailing that we wanted them to learn and use. They hunger for knowledge, they police their own actions, help each other out and best of all they know how to have fun. I may not have mentioned all the stories of the day, but I am super proud of each one of these kids and I wish them the best of luck for the future (even though I know they don’t need it!) So as my last day at DBMS is approaching I would like to say thank you to these guys for sending me off in style. Not only with a victory, but also with a day filled with laughter.

Thanks guys, I couldn’t have asked for a better day.

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