Many students returned to Hanover this past weekend reflecting on relaxing spring break experiences and trying to figure out how to prevent fabulous new tans from instantly fading in the chilly Northeast. The Dartmouth sailing team, on the other hand, capped off its intense spring training trip with a handful of regattas this past weekend.
The Southern New England Team Race Regatta was hosted by Connecticut College on the Thames River. The team of skippers for the Big Green included Lauren Padilla '05, Todd Whitehead '06, Mike Wilde '07 and Garrett Holmes '05. Complementing at crew were Clementine James '05, Liz Hyon '05 and Killarney Loufek '07.
Through gusts of wind up to 25 knots, the sailors raced to an impressive fourth-place overall finish.
The 23rd Marchiando Trophy Team Race at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology pitted the Big Green sailors against nine other tough crews in a series of round-robin style races.
Andrew Loe '06, Peter Fleming '05, Scott Linthicum '04 and Amo Loring '04 comprised the experienced group of Dartmouth skippers, while crew duties were shared by Christina Duncan '06, Elisabeth Kreter '05, and Amo Loring '04.
In a competition riddled with capsizing, Dartmouth posted a 10-9 win-loss record in the tournament to capture fifth place. Harvard won the event with a 12-4 mark, but the host Beaver squad from MIT was only able to muster a single victory, leaving it in last place.
Moving from team racing to the more traditional divisional racing, the Owen Trophy 2004, hosted by Brown University, proved to be an early test for the Big Green. In a field of sixteen teams, A-division sailors Allison Swindell '04 and Emily East '06 finished eighth, while Garrett Holmes '05 and Debbie Sperling '06 came in third in B division. Conditions were bad enough on the second day to call off the racing, leaving Dartmouth with a seventh-place overall finish.
The Metro Series Two at Boston College was the greatest success for the Big Green sailors. The A- division team featured veterans Jon Kling '04 and Amanda Morganroth '04, complemented by the all first-year team of Jimmy Attridge '07 and Meaghan Ferrick '07 in B-division. Combined, the two teams won the regatta outright, beating six other schools.
"Spring break is a great time for all of us to come together and bond as teammates and friends," said senior Amo Loring '04. Echoing these sentiments was Erik Storck '07, who stated, "It was great to hang out all together as a team and to learn from the upperclassmen."
The Dartmouth sailors look to carry the momentum of their fast start over spring break into more regattas this coming weekend.
