Despite a dominant showing at the Regis Bowl last weekend, the Dartmouth women's sailing team fell short of expectations, placing 17th in the Navy Women's Fall Intersectional hosted by the United States Naval Academy over the weekend.
The Big Green sailing squads traveled to five other regattas, including the Hobart and William Smith Fall Intersectional, in Geneva, N.Y., where they finished in the middle of the pack; the New England Single-handed Championships hosted by Yale University; the Casco Bay Open, hosted by Bowdoin College; the Storm Trysail Regatta in Larchmont, N.Y., and the University of New Hampshire Invitational.
In Annapolis, Becca Dellenbaugh '10 and Sarah Johnston '09 struggled for a 14th-place finish in Division A, while Kendall Reiley '09 and Kathy Oprea '10 fared no better, placing 15th in the Division B race.
The Navy Women's Fall Intersectional differs from other regattas, as it includes a third division of competition, where one sailor single-handedly races a Laser Radial boat.
Stef Gagnon '10's 11th-place finish in Division C, however, failed to improve Dartmouth's standings in the final scoring. The Big Green tied the University of South Florida for a second-to-last spot in the 18-team regatta.
Reiley regards the regatta as the largest event in women's collegiate sailing, with cutthroat competition and a third division that requires depth and flexibility from each competing squad.
"While we are disappointed in our results this weekend, Navy Fall is a really competitive event and we definitely learned a lot," Reiley said. "A couple mistakes held us back from doing a lot better."
At the Hobart and William Smith Fall Intersectional, the Big Green finished in eighth place out of 18 teams. Sam Williams '12 and Anne Megargel '09 finished in eighth place in Division A while Matt Cohen '10 and Christina Clark '10 finished in ninth place in Division B.
In New Haven, 33 sailors vied for the chance to qualify for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Single-Handed Sailing Championships held later this month at Cornell. The Big Green's Charlie Knape '10 sailed to a 19th-place finish, while Colin Treseler '09 ended the regatta in 22nd.
"I feel like it went pretty well," Knape said. "We ended up mid-fleet, and that was pretty successful in our view because the fleet included a ton of really good guys. It was nice to go out there and be able to watch some of the top guys sail and learn from them."
Knape also took into consideration the weather conditions.
"The weather was beautiful and made for a fun regatta, but I think we would have done better in windier conditions," Knape said. "It was pretty light wind with big waves, conditions that neither Colin nor I have practiced much."
At the Casco Bay Open, the squad finished in fifth place out of 13 teams. Courtney Gerwin '11 and Bernie Roesler '12 took fifth in Division A while Peter Hughes '11 and Tess Korndorf '11 also placed fifth in Division B.
At the Storm Trysail Regatta, the team raced in 40-foot yachts against three other squads. Dartmouth finished in last place, but the disappointing finish was likely due to the poor condition of the boat that the Big Green was given, according to Cohen.
"The Larchmont Yacht Club provided the boats, and unfortunately our team was given a boat with a dirty and slow hull," Cohen said. "This really hurt our boatspeed, which, over a four-mile course, is nearly impossible to overcome."
Closer to home at the University of New Hampshire Invitational, rookie Big Green sailors placed mid-pack in the 16-team event. Alexandra Peabody '12 and Raquel Merchant '12 sailed to an eighth-place position while fellow teammates Taylor McDonald '12 and Ryan McClafferty '12 finished in 10th place, one spot ahead of Matt Knight '11 and Tom Woodford '12.
Dartmouth looks to improve its results this weekend as it hosts the Captain Hurst Bowl at Lake Mascoma. The sailing team will also compete in the Southern Series Five, hosted by Providence College, and the Great Herring Pond Open, hosted by Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
