The seas were calm, too calm in fact, as the coed sailing team had a rough weekend in Charleston. The Big Green coeds finished a distant 10th in the field of 16 as the premier regatta of the fall, the Atlantic Coast Championships, was marked by extremely light winds. The women's team, meanwhile, competed at the Women's ACCs at Navy and faired slightly better, placing third. As for the freshman, they had another strong showing, coming in second at their version of the ACCs, hosted by Brown.
The coeds knew they were at a disadvantage heading into this weekend, as the team's leading skipper, Scott Hogan '04, had to leave school for the term with a case of mononucleosis. However, the Big Green sailors had shown time and again this season that depth was their strong point.
Still, the Big Green didn't perform up to expectations. Sailing in A-Division were senior captain Kevin Horrigan and crew Amo Loring '04. Because of the light winds, each division was able to complete only six races instead of the regular 16. Horrigan and Loring found themselves caught in the back of the pack all too often, managing only two Top 10 finishes and a 11th-place showing overall.
"The coed ACC was a little bit disappointing," Horrigan said. "With the limited number of races, a single error such as a bad start is not averaged out and can significantly affect the final standings. We also traditionally tend to fair better in breezier venues."
The B-Division pairing of skipper John Diskant '03 and Meaghan Gragg '02 faired slightly better, nabbing a pair of second-place finishes en route to finishing fifth, which helped the team to 10th overall.
Meanwhile, ACC title winner Harvard was led by the incomparable B-Division pairing of Margaret Gill and Susan Bonney. The female duo continued to establish its place among the elite boats in collegiate sailing, taking four first-place finishes in the six races.
In women's action in Maryland, Jen Morgan '02 and Cindy Keppel '02 took full advantage of the absence of Gill and Bonney, blowing away the rest of the A-Division by 18 points. The Big Green B-Division boat struggled, however, as Thalia Pascalides '03 and Amanda Dwelley '03 fell far enough behind that the team took only third overall.
Morgan and Keppel rode a trifecta of first-place finishes to an impressive A-Division victory. "We didn't realize we had won A-Division by so much," said Morgan, women's captain and All-American. "We definitely had some tough situations, but I guess everyone else had more of them. But our success really came from great starts and just plain sailing faster and better."
Pascalides and Dwelley came on strong, finishing with five straight Top 3 finishes, but were unable to overcome four consecutive early finishes outside the Top 10. The pair finished fifth in B-Division.
At the top of the scoring sheet, first-place St. Mary's was the definition of consistency, finishing outside the Top 10 only three times among the 32 races.
The freshman ACC title went to the strong program from Hobart, which finished second in A-Division and first in Bs.
Dartmouth had another great showing in the As, as Peter Fleming '05 and Clementine James '05 captured first place with a 10-point cushion.
In B-Division, Lauren Padilla '05 and Vanessa Green '05, as well as other freshmen who saw action in late races, finished seventh.
Overall, the '05s took second place in Providence.