Closer to home, the Big Green's coed sailors faced off for the Admiral Alymer Trophy at Massachusetts Maritime and at the Friis/Marchiando Team Race on Saturday and Sunday.
Leaving the cold spring weather of New England, the Big Green women's squad sent four sailors to compete in the Pacific Ocean off of the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. There, the Dartmouth sailors found sunny skies and strong winds, with gusts peaking at over 30 knots on Saturday.
The team's A division boat, headed by Becca Dellenbaugh '10 and Sarah Johnston '09, opened the competition with a first and second place finish in the first two races, and finished the day with top 10 finishes in the four remaining races in which they were entered.
In the B division boat, skipper Kendall Rieley '09 and Kathy Oprea '10 only managed to compete in three events before the races were called off due to the heavy winds. As a result, the pair had to complete eight races on Sunday afternoon.
Dellenbaugh and Johnston started their Sunday with another strong charge, finishing first in the morning's opening race and second in the next two races. The boat finished 11th and eighth in the final two races, good enough for third in the A division standings.
Riley and Oprea also saw some success on Sunday, finishing eighth in their division despite placing seventh in one of the day's later races.
Based on the results of both Big Green teams, Dartmouth earned a fifth place finish overall on the weekend
Matthew Cohen '10 commended his teammates on earning their top-five finish despite the travel and the race day conditions.
"This was a huge regatta and it looks like they did really well at a big regatta which is something we've been looking for," Cohen said. "The whole team's been working really hard on conditioning, and a good result at a windy venue like shows that our work has paid. The women did really well against a strong field at a new venue. Intersectional's are at the highest level of sailing, it's hard to do well there. They draw big, talented fleet."
While the women were out on the West Coast, Dartmouth's coed sailing squad competed in the Admiral Alymer Trophy races, hosted by Massachusetts-Maritime in Cape Cod, Mass. The Big Green competed for the trophy with 17 teams from 15 schools in cold, steady winds that reached 15 knots on Sunday. sent boats to vie for the trophy, with Boston University and the University of Vermont racing two teams apiece.
Racing in the A division, Luke Hathaway '08 worked with partner Sara Freihofer '10 to finish in first place in two out of 10 races, good enough for fifth place overall in their division.
Teammates Andrew Geffken '08 and Anne Megargel '09 raced to a ninth place finish in the B division. Geffken and Megargel then pushed through their final race for their only first place finish on the day. Their team placed seventh overall in the division.
Overall, Dartmouth sailing finished behind teams from Boston College, the University of Rhode Island, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Salve Regina, and the two teams from Boston University.
A third group of Dartmouth sailors raced at the Jan Friis/Lynne Marchiando Team Race at MIT, co-hosted by MIT and Tufts, in calm, balmy conditions over the weekend.
The Big Green struggled in Saturday's competition, failing to earn a top finish in six races.
Sunday saw steady winds from the northeast and colder temperatures and the Big Green took three wins in 11 races on the afternoon.
Dartmouth entered three boats in the races in Boston: Ben Sampson '08 paired with Betsy Bryant '08, while Matthew Cohen '10 teamed with Christina Clark '10, and Ed Jude Glackin '11 worked with Steph Gagnon '10.
"We brought a young, inexperienced team, so we struggled on Saturday, but picked up Sunday to win three races," Cohen said.
Next weekend, Dartmouth's sailing teams will compete in five regattas.
MIT and Tufts will again play hosts to a number of Big Green boats in the Central Series, the Oberg Trophy, and the Women's Duplin regattas. Other sailors will travel to Salve Regina for the New England Dinghy Championships, and several Dartmouth sailors will race for the Moody Trophy at the University of Rhode Island.
