This weekend spread the Big Green sailors from the murky waters of Boston to the beautiful shores of Annapolis, testing the team's grit and drive in a mix of big breeze and light wind.
Dartmouth sent a veteran team of Kate Hacker '07, Killarney Loufek '07, Betsy Bryant '08, Andrew Loe '06, Erik Storck '07 and Ben Sampson '08 to the Coast Guard Academy for the Hap Moore Team Race.
Dartmouth's experience paid off, as the Big Green finished with 13 wins and three losses, good for second in a field of 12 of the nation's best teams. The Big Green was only one win behind regatta-winner St. Mary's College of Maryland, whom they beat in the regatta's final race.
"Although we would have loved to win, I was very pleased with how we sailed," Dartmouth head coach Brian Stanford said. "I think our group proved what they were made of on Sunday. They worked out a few of Saturday's kinks and finished the regatta by winning their last five races."
Team racing differs from sailing's standard fleet racing because each race pits three boats from one school against three boats from another. Every boat counts in these highly tactical races, which are won by the team with the best combined finish.
In team racing, chemistry among a squad's sailors is imperative. Each team uses techniques to slow the opposition and help their teammates finish in front of the competition. More so than fleet racing, which only requires four people per school, team racing is the true test of a team's depth, demanding six talented sailors.
Not to be outdone by their teammates, Matty Cohen '10, Jimmy Attridge '07, Cindy Kahlenberg '10. and Luke Hathaway '08 finished second in a field comprised of the Ancient Eight at the Ivy League Championships hosted by Princeton. Cohen and Attridge schooled their Ivy League foes in 'A' division, winning half the races en route to victory. In 'B' division, the new pairing of Hathaway and Kahlenberg had difficulty finding a rhythm together and finished a disappointing fifth.
"It felt good to outsmart and outmuscle those other Ivy Leaguers," said Cohen.
The College also sent Lizzie Teague '09, Nolan Reis '08, Sarah Johnston '09 and Colin Treseler '09 to Boston University for the Metro Series. Reis and Teague combined for fifth in "A" Division while Johnston and Treseler were sixth in "B" division. The Big Green placed sixth of nine teams.
Further south, the Big Green women competed in the three division Women's Navy Fall regatta. Adele Wilhelm '08 teamed with Steph Gagnon '10 and Vanessa Sievers '10 to finish 12th in "A" Division. In "B" division Becca Dellenbaugh '10 paired with Anne Megargel '09 and Gagnon for a 10th place finish. Kendall Reiley sailed single handed laser radials for the Big Green, finishing fifth in "C" division. Dartmouth's combined scores were good for a tenth place finish of the regatta's 16 teams.
Dartmouth's coed team looks to carry its momentum from this weekend's success into the Jack Wood Intersectional in Hanover and the four division Fall Intersectional at Navy next weekend. The Big Green women will head to Yale in their first attempt to qualify for this fall's Atlantic Coast Championship.
Reporter James W. Attridge is a member of the sailing team.
