Even in the earliest days of spring in New Hampshire, Dartmouth students start eagerly anticipating the day when they can shed their winter layers and bask in warmer weather. Nowhere is this feeling more prevalent than among the members of Dartmouth's sailing team who wait daily for the ice sheets on Lake Mascoma to break so they can begin practicing on the water.
"We wait in complete anticipation for the coming of spring just so we can rig up the boats and take to the water in the freezing cold and oftentimes driving rains," Luke Hathaway '08 said.
In the meantime, though, the sailing team has been forced to continue a dry-land training schedule that they hope will enable them to jump into the boats and hit the ground running when the lake thaws.
The team may be eager to begin training here at home -- rather than driving down to Boston for practices on the water -- but the sailors are more excited to dive headlong into the spring season competitions.
The team has started off the season with mixed success. Last weekend, the team traveled to Salve Regina in Newport, R.I., to compete against two New England rivals. With strong winds and violent seas, the team experienced a number of submarinings and capsizes.
Despite these setbacks, the Dartmouth sailors managed to thrive in the tough weather. The Big Green defeated strong teams from Tufts Univeristy and the University of Connecticut to take home a gold medal.
While the team has had its share of successes, it has finished in the middle of the pack a number of times this year.
The team also sent competitors to Boston College for the second regatta in the Central Series last weekend. The sailors struggled in varying wind conditions and secured a 14th-place finish.
Currently, the sailors are working to come together as a team while the coaches attempt to match sailors of similar styles within boats.
"We are all just getting used to sailing together, and it's going to take a little time," Phil Woram '10. "The winds were really strong, and the conditions were tough this weekend."
An influx of freshman sailors and a high number of team members off campus during the Winter term prevented the team from spending time training together.
"We are all pretty close, and I'm sure the new guys will fit right in and we can build on what we did last weekend," Matthew Cohen '10 said.
Dartmouth's coed sailing team is currently unranked, while the women's team is in the 13th position. The sailors hope to maintain the momentum garnered from the Rhode Island race and look to improve as the season continues.
Members of the sailing team will compete this weekend in three regattas -- the St. Francis Intersectional at Stanford University, the Admiral Alymers at Mass Maritime and the Marchiando team race in Boston against Massachussetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University.
