George Washington University Athletics
Catching up with Colin Kennedy
11/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Sailing
GW Sailing senior Colin Kennedy recently participated in the America's Cup Endeavour Collegiate Sailing Intern Program hosted by the America's Cup Event authority, an internship program that focuses on inspiring further professional development and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) career pathways by exposing students to the science and engineering behind the innovation that will be played out on the America's Cup racecourse in Bermuda in May and June 2017.
The mechanical/aerospace engineering major was chosen to participate in the Endeavour program after being named to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association's (ICSA) All-Academic Team in July. GWsports.com caught up with Kennedy to discuss his internship experience.
Can you describe what your experience was like for both the OTUSA and the North Sails components of the program?
The OTUSA part of the program involved meeting with various Oracle Team Members and Staff as well as America's Cup organizational staff. We were able to meet with team members Jimmy Spithill, Cooper Dressler, and Andrew Campbell, Oracle's Boat and Sail design team, Race CEO Russel Coutts, and other Oracle/America's Cup organizers. Also in Bermuda we were able to train alongside the team members in their gym facility completing cardio workouts, strength workouts, and boxing workouts that involved completing various punching combinations to test both mind and body. The unfortunate circumstance of being in Bermuda at the time was Hurricane Nicole, which made a direct pass over the island during the program. This prevented us from being able to go out on the water and sail with and alongside the AC45 boats, but we were still able to view the boats and technology as they were packed away for the hurricane. Although much of the program had to be cut short due to the weather constraints, the program offered a great amount of insight into the highest level of the sport of sailing where they are continually pushing the limits making the boats less like the average day sailor and more like Formula 1 race cars.
Two weeks after being in Bermuda, we were taken to Minden, Nevada to see the North Sails 3Di manufacturing facility where they produce some of the largest and best sails in the world. 3Di is a relatively new technology in the sailing market where they utilize carbon fiber filaments and resin to create a sail that is much lighter, stronger, and durable than many sails in the past. It is a very similar process to creating any material out of carbon fiber or fiberglass, but they are able to create filaments that are thin enough to be light, but also remain flexible and strong. We were shown all of their manufacturing processes and how they are able to layer the fibers and then place the sails onto a mold that gives the sail the shape that it will use to make the boat move once the sail is up in the air. Since North Sails is the leading developer of this technology, it would be assumed that they keep everything about their process extremely secret, but they do the opposite since no one on the market is even able to create a product with the same level of precision and accuracy.
What was your favorite part about being an intern?
My favorite part about being an intern was being able to meet with the top of the industry professionals where my degree could possibly take me to be. At the highest levels everyone is still a sailor, and we love the sport, so most people are more than willing to share their favorite moments and be down to earth rather than distancing themselves from the public like in various other professional sports. Although I wish we were able to get out sailing and watch the boats fly across the Bermuda Sound, I loved being able to see the technology and design that creates a boat that can move at speeds up to 35 m.p.h. in winds less than 10 m.p.h.
How does this internship prepare you for what you would like to do in the future?
This internship will help me gain more connections in the sailing industry as well as give me an idea of how I may be able to put myself in a position to be hired or sail for an America's Cup Team, Volvo Ocean Race Team, or any other professional sailing team. I am able to see myself more and more as not only being a sailor, but also an engineer that's a valuable asset in multiple ways rather than being just one or the other. The most important part that I learned from this internship is that there are so many people involved in the program who have gotten to where they are simply by being one of the hardest workers and willing to absorb as much information as possible. What many people said is that they would rather hire someone who is hard working and has a great attitude because it is a lot easier to teach someone to sail better, but much harder to deal with someone who does not have the drive or attitude to learn.
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