Stu Nelson Trophy at MIT

by Matthew Lindblad on 23 Oct 2012 The Stu Nelson Trophy was originally the Powder Puff Trophy, which was the first women's competition in college sailing. It was appropriately re-named after former MIT women's coach Stu Nelson. Stu was the women's varsity coach at MIT for 39 years and was ICSA's first full time women's coach.

Stu did a tremendous job to promote women's sailing in New England and nationally. Stu is enjoying an active retirement windsurfing, ice boating, and skiing in New Hampshire.

Twelve races were held in each division. The conditions were tricky, with wind starting in the morning with a southerly that backed to an eventual West, Southwesterly zone. Temperatures were in the upper 60's making for a very pleasant mid-October day.

Thank you to Judges Jeff and Lianne Dusek and Jamie Ewing. Thank you to MIT undergrad scorers Keren Gu, Bruno Faviero, and David Perez and fleet support from MIT dockmaster Wally Corwin and dockstaff Phil and Kyle.

Recap of Sunday's action

A gorgeous west wind made for some ideal conditions with fairly steady oscillations. Matty Cohen was the PRO with assistance from Karen Benet and Theo Benet's assistance on the finish horn. Lots of rail to rail contact on the starting line was observed by judges Lianne and Jeff Dusek. If spins weren't initiated on the water, the hook was thrown in the room.

The BC Eagles dominated both divisions winning 13 of 36 races in the weekend over the consistent Jumbos from Tufts. Most races had very tight, overlapped finishes in both colorful fleets of FJs and the New Collegiate Firefly Dinghies.

Detailed scores may be viewed here