URI sailing team captures 11th Kennedy Cup

By: Brandon Gearing

Posted: 11/21/08

11/21/08 - The University of Rhode Island sailing team edged the United States Naval Academy to earn its 11th victory in Kennedy Cup history on Nov. 9.

The Kennedy Cup is sailing's equivalent of a collegiate national championship, and the victory makes URI the winningest team in cup history.

"It was an amazing opportunity, we had a blast," team co-captain Jesse Fielding said.

The cup was held Nov. 7 to Nov. 9 on the Chesapeake Bay and consisted of eight races, all about one hour long.

Nine sailors represented the URI sailing club, which consists of 63 total members.

The Naval Academy hosted the event and entered it's crew in the competition also.

Other participants included the United States Coast Guard Academy, St. Mary's University, Maine Maritime Academy, California Maritime Academy, the United States Merchant Marine Academy, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, the New York Maritime Academy Queens University, as well as the aforementioned URI and Navy teams.

During the eight races, teams are awarded points based on their finishes. First place earns one point, second place earns two points and so on.

The lowest cumulative score wins the contest.

Rhody totaled 23, narrowly beating out Navy;s score of 24 during the three-day span.

The Rams had two first-place finishes, second only to Maine Maritime Academy's three wins.

All but one of Rhody's other finishes were among the top five.

Coming into the final race, the Rams held a narrow 21-19 lead over defending-champion Navy. That meant the Rams had to finish no less than two spots behind Navy to clinch the title.

URI was able to finish just one spot behind Navy to earn the victory.

"It makes us very proud to honor the tradition that URI sailing has," Fielding said.

With the win, Rhody will now represent the United States at the 2009 Student Yachting World Cup in France.

It's the second trip to the cup in three years for the Rams, who last competed in 2007, earning a seventh place finish.

URI last won the World Cup in 1990. It also finished second in 1992, 1993 and 2004, while taking third in 1988 and 1998.

The crew that competed in the Kennedy Cup consisted of seniors Russell Miller and Robbie Kane, juniors Alex Baittinger, Jessie Fielding, Carl Merrill, Scott Millard and Nat Tingley and sophomores Weston Barlow and Jeremy Henry.

However, this crew might not be the one that competes in the World Cup next year.

A committee will be set up within the URI sailing community that includes head coach and former URI sailor Joey Mello to determine which sailors will compete.

This committee will also reach out to selected alumni to help review applications for only seven positions.

In addition to the applications, the committee will consider academic standing, passport information, ability to take off time from classes and sailing experience.

"[Making the team has] been a goal of mine since I first set foot on the URI sailing team," Fielding said. "The chance to represent URI, the chance to sail under the Rhody Rams flag, the chance to sail for the United States in a world event would be an honor."

The Rams face many hurdles before they get to France, the biggest being the $40,000 to $50,000 needed to cover the costs of making the trip.

The team will look to the university to provide some of the money to cover the trip, but Fielding said he expects that the team will be forced to come up with about 90 percent of the necessary funds.

"I'm incredibly proud of our guys," Fielding said. "We put any ego that we had and we left it on the dock and worked hard to win this one."

The date and exact location of the World Cup are still to be determined.