Solid performances at three coed regattas over last weekend enabled the sailing team to rise two spots in college rankings. Previously ranked 20th out of 28 teams in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA), the team now holds the 18th place position and seeks to improve from this level.
This upcoming weekend will prove to be a busy one, with a projected lineup of six events. The women's team took a short hiatus from competition this past weekend, but will return to the water for the upcoming Regis Bowl, hosted by Boston University.
Several miles downriver, the coed team will compete in single-sail technical dinghies at MIT's Smith Trophy. Closer to campus, another coed team will sail 420s in Portland Harbor at the Hewitt Trophy, hosted by the University of Southern Maine. Bowdoin will also compete in the Ross Trophy, a keelboat event held in Rhodes 19s at Boston Harbor, as well as the weekly Central Series and an invite.
"The Smith will be good tech time for the Schell Trophy, which is in late October," said Head Coach Frank Pizzo. "We'll also look to develop our younger coed skippers at the Hewitt and the Central."
Headlining the slate of last weekend's competition was the consortium of eight sailors sent to the Central Series at Boston University. Sailing on the Charles River in FJs, the Polar Bears notched a 6th place finish in a fleet of 17 boats. On Sunday, Tom Charpentier '10 and Katharine O'Brien '12 posted several impressive top three finishes for an overall 4th place finish in the B-division.
"[Katharine and I] found the wind on the Charles uncharacteristically easy to decipher on Sunday," said Charpentier. "A simple strategy worked all day—port approaching the pin end of the start line and hitting the puffs on the left side of the course—and we executed it well."
"I would say the highlight of this past weekend was the Central Series at BU," added Pizzo.
Another coed team traveled to Tufts University to compete in Larks at the Hood Trophy intersectional. On the notoriously shifty venue of Mystic Lake, both days of racing fielded variable winds of 5-10 knots from the southeast. The team of Alex Takata '12, Laura Heyl '10, DJ Hatch '11, Alex Sutula '12, and Mae Speight '13 fielded a 19th place finish in a highly competitive 24-boat fleet. In the A-division, Takata and Heyl finished just below mid-fleet in 15th place. Speight, crewing for Sutula and Hatch in the B-division, finished in 17th.
Rounding out the weekend's competition was the team of Billy Rohman '11, Ben Berg '12, Jimmy Rohman '13 and Zac Fox '13 who participated in the Loder Trophy hosted by UNH. Light breeze resulted in a completion of only four races on Saturday and none on Sunday, which proved to be unforgiving for the team's search for opportunities to improve throughout the regatta.
Sailing in FJs, the team ultimately finished in 14th. In the A-division, Billy Rohman and Berg put together several solid races for a 10th place finish.
"Overall, we felt fast and are looking for another weekend where we can get more races in," said Rohman.