Dartmouth was one of four teams knocked out after going 1-4 in the round-robin section of the regatta, which split the 12 competing teams into two groups of six. Despite several close races, the teams that finished in last place in both groups were eliminated.
"To be fair, it was the toughest regatta of the year," coach John Pearce said. "The Team Race Championships is much more exclusive, as it only has a field of 12 teams, as opposed to other regattas which are not as condensed."
The Big Green had three boats sailing in the regatta. Sam Williams '12 and Sarah Freihofer '10 manned one boat, while Dartmouth's women's winning duo of Becca Dellenbaugh '10 and Rachel Moncton '12 sailed in another. Matt Cohen '10 and Ali Hiller '11 competed in the final boat.
"We were disappointed with the result this weekend," Williams said. "But to put it into perspective, we did finish as the rankings predicted, as we were seeded within the bottom four of the event and were eliminated as one of the bottom four teams there." The field consisted of several of the country's top ranked teams. Boston College, the number-one team in the nation, won the regatta for the third year in a row, with Tufts University and Yale University coming in second and third, respectively.
"It was indeed a bit disappointing, because we were very competitive and we were right there with the other teams in our round," Pearce said. "However, we gained a lot of valuable experience because no one on this team had previously sailed in this regatta."
Williams reiterated that the team never quit competing, and although it was eliminated early on, the team developed visibly given its results.
"What the results don't show is that we were very competitive in some of the races we lost," Williams said. "The event is organized to eliminate a lot of teams quickly, and unfortunately, we were in the early elimination group, but we were still very competitive against the teams we raced against which is still a large improvement from where we were a year ago."
Although the team would have liked a much stronger performance, Pearce said qualifying for this type of event alone will help the Big Green team in the long run.
"We can all know we competed and gave it our all this past weekend," Pearce said. "Everyone knows what it will take for us to advance in next year's regatta."
According to Williams, the regatta reminded the Dartmouth team what it takes to remain competitive on the national level.
"I think it will put our training in perspective and get us ready for next season of team racing, when we expect to be much better," he said.
The team elected Peter Hughes '11 and Hiller to serve as captains for next season.
"Peter and Ali were great leaders on the team this past year, so I think their transition to being captains should be smooth and successful," Williams said. "I'm really looking forward to them leading us next year, hopefully into a new era of Dartmouth sailing success."
Even though their season is over, the co-ed team will continue practicing as they help the women's team prepare for the Women's National Championships. The women's team qualified for nationals after finishing seventh at the New England Women's Championships on April 24.
"Everyone here is still pumped," Pearce said. "They all just want to help the women in any way they can, in hopes of them succeeding on the highest stage."
Williams added that the team is looking forward to watching the women continue their success at nationals.
"The women have worked really hard all year long and have had great performances," Williams said.
The Women's National Championships will take place on May 25 at the University of Wisconsin.
