The Bowdoin sailing team competed in two regattas in shifty wind conditions last weekend. In the Fowle Trophy regatta, which was the first New England championship of the spring, the co-ed team finished eleventh out of twelve teams.
The women’s team had a little more luck, finishing thirteenth out of eighteen teams at the Emily Wick Trophy, which is an inter-conference regatta hosted by Coast Guard on the Thames River. It features 18 of the top women’s teams in the country.
On the first day of the regatta, 20 races were held against a West-Northwest breeze that shifted between five and 25 knots throughout the day.
“We struggled a little bit just because we’re not used to sailing in big breeze,” said Ellis Price ’18. “But we had some strong moments.”
The A-division sailed Z420 boats, while the B-division sailed FJ boats. The competing teams switched fleets for the last eight races in each division that were held the following Sunday. On the second day of the regatta, the racing conditions had improved. Yale finished in first place, winning the trophy for the third year in a row.
According to Head Coach Frank Pizzo, the Polar Bears had a few good races during this regatta, but had trouble on the starting line and struggled with sailing good first beats. The team consisted of Erin Mullins ’16, Dana Bloch ’17, Lizzy Hamilton ’15, Courtney Koos ’16, and Price.
“[There were] pretty wacky conditions,” said Price. “The wind was oscillating a lot. So we were practicing for that because our qualifier is coming up…it will probably be in a breezy area.”
Koos noted that this weekend was not typical of the women’s team, which is ranked third in the country for collegiate sailing according to Sailing World Coaches’ Poll.
“At the end of the day,” Koos said, “One weekend is not indicative of a twenty-two week season.”
Meanwhile, the co-ed team competed at the Fowle Trophy hosted by Harvard on the Charles River, which was a Conference Championship Regatta. Bowdoin was competing against the top twelve teams in New England, who are all considered top-level teams in the country.
60 races were held on Saturday, with breeze from the West and Northwest ranging from eight to 25 knots, and six more races remained for the following Sunday. The top eight teams at the finish qualified for the next round of the Conference Championship. The Polar Bears did not advance, but Price said they did notably better than they did last year. Pizzo noted that they had good wins against Connecticut College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
This team consisted of mostly skippers, featuring Jack McGuire ’17, Michael Croteau ’15, Harrison Hawk ’18, Charlotte Williamson ’15, Matt Lyons ’17, Mimi Paz ’17, Jake Griffin ’18, Julia Rew ’16, and Chester Jacobs ’17.
Pizzo said the Polar Bears are lucky that four of these six starters will be returning next season, which will help build the race team’s strength and development.
“We are very focused on learning from the conditions at the regattas,” said Price. “We’re not necessarily focused on the results. Obviously we want to do well…but we are focusing on what we can improve on.”
“Every weekend we go to regattas with the mindset that we want to get better, to finish the season on the best note possible,” Koos added.
Both teams are taking advantage of the next few weeks to prepare for their national qualifiers. The women’s qualifier will take place on April 24 at Boston College, while the co-ed team will compete on May 2 at Yale.
“Going into this weekend the big focus is on honing in our skills in heavy air. I think a lot of sailing ends up being a mental game too,” said Koos.
This coming weekend, the sailing team will compete in three different events: the Navy Spring at Navy, the President’s Trophy at Boston University and the Oberg Trophy at Northeastern.