ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - While the open sailing team was competing at the ICSA Open Fleet Racing Nationals, junior Brooks Jordan had the opportunity to reunite with his friends from his old yacht club from his hometown in Edgartown, Massachusetts.
"We met when we were young at Edgartown Yacht Club which is where we all learned to sail at first," said Jordan. "We got to be with each other throughout our entirety of sailing, starting when we were seven or eight years old until we were 18."
"We spent a lot of summers together competing in sailing around New England… We first met in Optis (the basic, learning to sail class) and we sailed and competed as we got into the sport of sailing. We then transitioned into Club 420s, the two person boat. I never was partnered with them, but I was still training with them and sailing with them and I consider them my best friends." After competing in 420s, the next steps are to become an instructor or to go on to sail competitively.
"When it was time to go to college, we all went our different ways to Stanford, Navy, Tufts, and Eckerd. We all wanted to continue to push ourselves, to be competitive, and learn more. We all became competitive sailors and we all wanted to succeed at the collegiate level so that is why we became collegiate sailors as well."
"It was really fun and rewarding to see all of them. Nationals was a really good opportunity to see each other and catch up but also to take notes on each other's performance and learn how to be better sailors."
Sailors Gwen Donahue and Abigail Tindall were both contributors to Stanford's success at ICSA Nationals, as the Cardinal won the women's fleet race title and the open fleet race title.
