At the 38th Women's New England Championships hosted by Boston University, only the top six finishers would qualify for Nationals, out of a gritty 18-team field. Despite these long odds, the Big Green captured a spot in Nationals after an excellent performance over the weekend.
The first day of the two-day event greeted the sailors with warm, sunny weather, but very tricky winds. In fact, several collisions and penalties resulted from the strong breezes.
Sunday was a different story for the sailors, with temperatures plunging throughout the day and only light gusts. As the official race report stated, "you don't get racing much better than this." Through a daunting 15 races, veterans Lauren Padilla '05 and Liz Hyon '05 sailed to a strong fifth place finish in A-division. In B-division, skipper Emily East '06 got help from crews Amo Loring '04 and Allison Swindell '04 for another fifth place finish.
The combined points left Dartmouth in fifth place overall, just past Connecticut College, which took fourth. This impressive finish qualifies Dartmouth to compete next month in the sailing's big dance, as their drive to become the best collegiate sailing team in the country continues.
The crazy weather also followed the sailors to the Priddy Trophy at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Saturday's races were stopped short at six after more than half the boats competing flipped trying to sail in the intense wind. First year phenoms Mike Wilde '07 and Lucy Whidden '07 were undeterred by the conditions and placed second overall of 15 teams.
There's no "I" in team sailing. Oh, wait, there are two, actually. Well, no matter, because at the 37th Staake Trophy Team Racing Tournament Dartmouth sailors really came together to sail well. While host Tufts University won the event, the six-member squad from Dartmouth fought hard and placed second. Jon Kling '04, a great sailor and a gifted PowerPoint presentation creator, competed with Amanda Morganroth '04, Garrett Holmes '05, Debbie Sperling '06, Jimmy Attridge '07 and Meaghan Ferrick '07 as the representatives from Dartmouth.
Speaking of big groups, the Thompson Trophy Regatta, put on by Connecticut College, pit a full 18 teams against one another with a whopping 36 total races across two divisions. Erik Storck '07 and Clementine James '05 faced some stiff competition in A-division, finishing in 13th place. In B-division, Peter Fleming '05 and Christina Duncan '06 finished 10th, resulting in an overall eleventh place for the regatta. Rounding out the action, Dartmouth came in third of 18 teams at the Admiral Almyers Trophy at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
All in all, it was another solid weekend for the Dartmouth sailing team, with more action and more national qualifying regattas coming up this weekend.
