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pril 1 & 2 our small town was visited by over 120 collegiate sailors, visiting from New York to Florida. The weekend proved magical both for Oriental residents and the visiting sailors. Jim Edwards & the Sailpack Crew (Coach Dana Magliola, plus Team Captains Kara Wheeler and Caroline Eberhardt) sent notes of thanks:

(click the letter for a larger view)

Bow to Stern Boating Center, NC State SailPack, and the over 120 sailors from NY to FL that participated in the 2017 SailPack Oriental Intercollegiate Regatta would like to thank the Town of Oriental, Town Officials, local and county businesses, and full and part time residents who stepped forward to make this event one that will be remembered for years to come. As a community, we were able to house close to 150 sailors, feed them a warm breakfast each morning, show them how BBQ is done, provide entertainment via our local musical talent, and facilitate a great evening social event. Not to mention, hosting a regatta in a venue that they will all remember long after they graduate. All of this is not normal for a collegiate regatta. College sailors are not used to seeing an entire community join in to provide such a fun, safe and comprehensive event. Oriental showed them how it was done.

It was great talking with sailors and community members alike who were appreciative of the other. It’s hard to determine who had more fun … the sailors or the town. It would not have been successful without everyone who stepped forward and answered the call when asked.

We all would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone and truly look forward to next year.

Jim Edwards, Bow To Stern Boating

Sunday afternoon (April 2), after the awards ceremony at Bow To Stern Boating, all 100+ collegiate sailors got together for a group pic:

(click image for the big view). After this photo was snapped, the sailors were on their way to distant points north (NY,PA, VA, MD, DC) & south (FL, GA & SC).