The Dartmouth sailing team attends more regattas per year than any other team, the logistics of which are daunting even to its capable head coach, Brian Stanford.
So, this week, the team breathes new life into its coaching staff with the addition of Katie McDowell as the new assistant coach.
McDowell, a 1998 Brown grad, is a five time All American -- four times for the women, and once on the coed squad. Most recently you may have seen Katie and her crew, Isabelle, finishing fifth in the 470 class at the Olympic Games in Athens.
This weekend, meanwhile, Andrew Loe '06, Giancarlo Nucci '06, Erik Storck '07 and Mike Wilde '07 went to Roger Williams to sail the Single-handed New England Champs in the Laser, the preferred single-handed boat. The top four finishers from the weekend advance to Men's Single-handed Nationals in Minnesota.
With the best Laser sailors in the Northeast gathered and the wind blowing a steady 8-to-12 knots most of the weekend, racing was competitive as ever, with only points separating the qualifying sailors.
Going into the 18th and final race, Wilde was looking to qualify, sitting in fourth place with the fifth and sixth-place boats each behind him by better than five points. However, as with the championship match in any sport, it all comes down to the line in the last bought, and sailing is no different.
In the final race, the fifth-place boat from Yale had to beat Wilde, and to this end the Yale competitor started right next to Wilde, forcing Wilde to foul on the starting line. In order to stay alive, Wilde had to spin a 720 -- turning his boat through two full circles.
After spinning, Wilde was deep in the fleet trying to catch the Yale boat and the sixth place from Harvard. Wilde struggled, and was not able to catch enough boats to qualify for Nationals, turning in an overall finish of sixth place for the weekend.
At the Hap Moore Trophy Team Race, a 12-team event, Peter Fleming '05, Killarney Loufek '07, Todd Whitehead '06, Elisabeth Kreter '05, Ben Sampson '08 and Clementine James '05 narrowly missed qualifying for the gold round (top six) as they worked out some kinks on Saturday.
They entered a three-way sail-off for sixth place with Kings Point and Connecticut, barely losing to KP. Determined to show the field that they belonged in the top six, they dominated the competition on Sunday, losing only one race and taking a commanding lead in the second group to finish seventh overall.
The women's team composed of Lauren Padilla '05, Liz Hyon '05, Emily East '06, Kate Hacker '07 and Adele Wilhelm '08 traveled down to Navy for the Navy Fall Women's tournament, excited to have the full team together for the first time this fall. Conditions were challenging, which is usual for this event due to the large amount of boat traffic from the Annapolis Boat Show. There is always plenty of excess chop, and when the breeze is light, as it was on Saturday, the conditions can become even more trying for the ladies' patience.
"It was very choppy conditions which is not something we sail in too much so that was good practice," Hyon commented. "We were also kind of inconsistent this weekend, which was frustrating. Third is good but we would like to do better."
The girls put in a solid performance over 60 total races, finishing fifth in A, fifth in B, third in C and third in the 20 team event to wind up third overall.
They'll now look to qualify for the Atlantic Coast Championships next weekend at Yale.
Saving perhaps the best of the weekend for last, Debbie Sperling '06 and Meaghan Ferrick '07 won the Ivy League Championships with the help of Garrett Holmes '05 and Jimmy Attridge '07 at Cornell over the weekend.
Apparently wanting to make it clear which of the Ivies really had the smarts and the moves, the team proceeded to dominate the field. Sperling and Holmes rocked a third in A-division, while Ferrick and Attridge destroyed the field in B, winning by over 20 points.
This was the first time the Dartmouth sailors have ever visited the Cornell boathouse. This marks the third year in a row that Dartmouth sailing has been at the top of the Ancient Eight.
