The Johnson & Wales University sailing team travels to the New England Dinghy Championships on April 29-30 to take on the best sailors in the region. Head coach Alan Penney has a talented group of sailors that have a history of making notable waves and have been building momentum all season long.
The event is hosted by Boston College at the Savin Hill Yacht Club in Dorchester. The teams will sail on FJs on Saturday then switch to Z420s for the second day.
Johnson & Wales recently won the O'Toole Trophy on April 23 with a score of 17 points. The Wildcats bested runner-up Salve Regina by 15 points. Boat B, captained by Thomas Pluchino (Centerport, NY) with crew Caoilinn Boyle (Plymouth, Mass.), won the event with eight points. Boat A, captained by Peter Sterflinger (Centerport, NY) with crew Hans Bengtson (Cumberland, RI) and Elyssa Terney (Hudson, Ohio), won the first four races to take second.
This was the Wildcats' second win of the year as they highlighted the fall by winning the New England Dinghy Tournament on October 30. Pluchino and crew Marisa Sannino (Cutchogue, NY) won seven of the eight races and boat A of Sterflinger and Alexa Giovanis (Sterling, VA) had five top-three finishes.
A third-place finish at the spring New England Dinghy Tournament on April 9 propelled the Wildcats into this weekend's championship regatta. Sterflinger and Pluchino of the A boat captured the second and ninth races on their way to winning the event.
Pluchino and Sterflinger set the tone in the first event of the spring when they placed fifth at the Central Series II with the total of 17 points. Johnson & Wales also had both boats place in the top 10 as the team took fourth at the Central Series IV, hosted by Tufts.
Last season the Wildcats finished 17th at the event. JWU finished ahead of Division I opponent Northeastern and just a few points back of Mass Maritime.
