Salve Sailing Set for Victory

By: Stephanie Savage
Posted In: Sports

Newport, RI- As one of the top sailing capitals in the world, as well as home to the Volvo Ocean Race’s Puma Sailing team, it’s no wonder that Newport also boasts one of the top 14 college sailing teams in New England.

After one of their most successful seasons this past fall in which they ranked top 10 in the New England conference (NEISA), the 23 men and women of Salve’s sailing team are ready to hit the water and do it all over again this spring. This season is certainly one to look forward to as it marks the first time the team will be competing in team race regattas and sloop events as opposed to just fleet races. And to top of their great year, the team hopes to make their first ever appearance in Collegiate Nationals, the most prestigious sailing event in the nation. Set for early June, the Collegiate Nationals are comprised of three events in which the competitors are made up of the 18 most qualified teams in the nation. “We can all taste Nationals in the near future and have set goals of making it there this year,” said Matthew Schon, a sophomore.

In order to make it to Nationals the team will have to continue to work extremely hard, on and off the water. As always, Salve will face some of the toughest competitors in the nation including locally ranked teams such as Boston College, Harvard, Tufts, MIT, Roger Williams and Brown, to name a few. The team’s next regatta is Mar. 7, 2009 when they will travel to Tampa, Fla. to compete against Eckerd College whom they have beaten consecutively for the past two years and are undoubtedly hoping to conquer once again. This team is hopeful though and rightfully so, especially with a track record that includes ranking as one of Sailing World’s top 20 teams in the nation.

Off the water, the team is more like a family than anything else. “Because the team is a lot smaller than many others at the school we are extremely close knit,” said captain, Torey Pellegrini. “We also tend to travel a lot because the college sailing circuit is so large and spread out, and because of this we spend a lot of time together during the season.” Schon, who says he has found most of his best friends on the team, agrees that it’s this closeness that sets the Sailing team apart from the other sports here at Salve.

Despite the team’s past and current victories, sailing seems to go unnoticed by most at Salve. Schon says its sailing being an “unorthodox sport” that’s to blame, that along with the fact that many people have never even heard of college sailing. “The sailing team’s popularity is growing at Salve, but it would be nice to have to some more respect amongst our fellow students as a top team at this school,” Schon said.

The team will continue to work hard throughout the spring season with the direction of coaches John Ingalls and Salve’s own Michael Komar, both of whom have competed at a world class level. Making the nationals would be the ultimate achievement, yet in the end the team agrees that it’s all about having a good time. “Even though our team is striving to excel in college sailing our most important goal is to have as much fun as possible,” Schon said. Pellegrini couldn’t seem to agree more, saying “I just love being on the water, win, lose or draw.”