The Dartmouth women's sailing team kicked off the new season with a mission: to show they deserved their pre-season No. 2 ranking.
The Big Green opened the campaign last weekend in their home waters of Lake Masacoma as they hosted the Mrs. Hurst Bowl, named in honor of the wife of former Dartmouth coach Captain Hurst. The regatta overflowed with the wet-suit and sun glass clad members of the East Coast's top teams and 16 teams overall.
Saturday morning started with light and shifty winds and the teams of Leigh Lucas '98 and Erin Myers '00 in the A Division and Erin Maxwell '01 and Carly Prior '01 in the B Division. Excitement came late in the day when a squall came through that left capsized boats littering the lake.
The Big Green ended the day in second and came back on Sunday encountering gusty, strong winds. The A Division crew remained unchanged but in the B Division Hollis Von Summer '00 replaced Maxwell. The women ended the day with solid second place finishes in their divisions and a combined score that won them the regatta by a large margin.
The incoming Freshman class proved that they are going to play a key role this year, demonstrated by Maxwell's impressive finish and Patrick Hogan's '01 fifth place finish in A Division competition at the Hatch Brown on the Charles River last weekend. These two freshmen were one of the reasons Dartmouth was noted in a prominent sailing magazine as one of the most-improved squads.
"We recruited a strong group of freshman and our prospects for the year look great," team-captain Wes MacLaggan '98 said. "There is a lot of young talent and potential on the team so we look to be a threat for the next few years to come."
Along with the freshman, instrumental members of last year's team return for the Big Green. Skippers Dan Herlihy '00 and Casey Hogan '99 are back , ready to use the experience they gained racing last year and over the summer. The team broke into the Top 20 earlier in the season and has climbed its way up to the 15th spot overall.
"We have a bunch of great sailors who matured and improved a lot last year and this new batch of freshmen are an excellent group," Coach Brian Doyle said. "I picture our finishes at regattas improving greatly."
"There is a good chance of doing well at singlehanded and sloop nationals in the fall, as well as varsity, women's and team racing nationals in the spring," MacLaggan said.
The new season has also brought with it a new group of leaders: MacLaggan takes the ranking of team captain with Jeff Blecher '98 taking over the position of Commodore. Vice Commodore Casey Hogan '99 and Rear Commodore Shannon Laughlin '98 round out the officers.
The winds of late summer have lured this team back to campus and have sparked their drive. Every weekend from now until Thanksgiving the team will gather at the lake for weekday practices and then will branch out, traveling to different regattas up and down the Atlantic Coast.
The Big Green is hosting two regattas this weekend, but the next big home regatta is the Ivy Championships, when the teams will compete for The Mosbacher Trophy. That regatta takes place in October. Until then, the team will travel around New England in the upcoming weeks.
