JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Eckerd Tritons sailing team earned a second-place standing out of 18 teams at the SAISA Open Fleet Race Championships over the weekend, posting a sub-100 score of 96.
The Tritons sent out
Paul Rodrigues Jr. and
Avery Guck in the A division and
Jordan Vieira and
Tia Soultanakis in B. Sailors took to the water for a first start just after 1 p.m. in 10-12 knots out of the Northeast with lumpy chop. By the second set, the wind had increased to 12-15 and so did the sea-state. Racing was stalled with several breakdowns throughout the afternoon mostly due to universals that were only 6 months old. Six races were sailed in A and  four in B. Racing finished for the day at 6:15 p.m. The Tritons sat in third place after Saturday's action.
On Sunday, the day started with a light 5-8 knots from due-north with small shifts and chop. The breeze fluctuated and became unstable, then in race 8A the wind shifted 90 degrees to the right on the last leg causing a challenging finish with just 100 yards to go. For the second half of the day, the wind increased at times gusting to 20 knots. Vieira and Soultanakis won a total of five races throughout the weekend finished with a team total of 31, the best score of any B team in attendance. The A team had five top-five placements and finished in second during three different races.Â
It is the best finish for the Tritons at the SAISA Open Championships since the 2018-19 season.
