The sailing season is drawing to a close over the next week, with women's and coed national championships coming up. Dartmouth is well-represented in both events, with a Big Green team racing at the Gill Coed championship in St. Petersburg, Fla., next weekend and a women's team competing in the Sperry Top-Sider finals today. The Big Green women are currently leading the national championships over second-place Boston College by 39 points with one day remaining of competition.
Dartmouth earned a spot at women's nationals thanks to their performance at the semifinal, where 18 of the top teams in the country entered the field. Only the top 9 qualified for the national finals. Dartmouth stood at second after the first day, holding the position through intense competition.
In the finals, the women's A-squad dominated the competition, leaving the field in the dust. Only the U.S. Naval Academy team stands within 30 points of the Big Green. The B-division sailors have also performed consistently, standing in sixth out of 18 teams. Dartmouth's admirable balance of strength between its divisions remains the envy of the rest of competition since most squads can only manage to put one consistently talented squad on the water.
"Everyone's so proud of how our women's team is doing," sailor Caroline Gray '16 said. "We're all following along from home and it's so exciting to see your teammates who have worked so hard all season get these type of results."
Dartmouth started the event strong with three top-three finishes in the first four races, setting the tone for what would prove to be a successful outing. Though Boston College and St. Mary's College of Maryland have put up a fight, the Big Green hold a comfortable lead through 14 races. The finals were initially scheduled to last 18 races, though they may go longer if weather permits.
"They deserve all the success that they're having right now," sailor Emily Petno '16 said. "After working hard all season, we knew that they could have this type of success at the big regattas."
The final event of the season for any of the Dartmouth sailors will be the coed championships next weekend. Matt Wefer '14 and Avery Plough '14 will sail A-division for the Big Green at the championships, while Scott Houck '15 and Molly Wilson '13 will sail B-division.
This marks the second straight year that Dartmouth has qualified for the Gill coed championship. It finished fourth in competition last year. Before this recent hot streak, Dartmouth had not qualified for nationals since 2007, before the current year's seniors matriculated.
"We have a goal just to do the best we can," Wefer said. "We try not to put expectations on ourselves because that can only add stress. You just have to focus on what you can control by focusing on the process instead of on the results."
The coed team qualified for nationals by placing fourth of 17 teams in the ICSA national semifinals three weeks ago. The tight battles marked much of the semifinal are expected to grow even more fierce, as the team enters the last regatta of the season.
"Racing is going to be really tight," Wefer said. "These are 18 of the best teams in the country on one starting line. You want to be conservative without being too conservative, because consistency is what you've got to go for when every point matters."
The success Dartmouth currently enjoys in both the women's and coed divisions of sailing is perhaps the strongest testament to the team's ability. The Big Green is one of only three Ivy League schools to send sailing squads to both women's and coed national championships this year, along with Brown University and Yale University.
"The women have been killing it so far," Wefer said. "They're sailing well and they're sailing consistently, which is key. There's still a lot of racing left to do, and they, like the coed team, are just going to try and take it one day at a time."
The sailing team will finish the women's national championship today before heading to Florida for their final regatta of the season.
