Courtesy of Charlie Conover

Last Saturday, the sailing team competed in regattas throughout the Northeast including the Nicholas Barnett Trophy, the Regis Trophy, the New England Singlehanded Championships and the Hatch Brown Trophy. Most notably, the Polar Bears hosted eleven teams for the Nicholas Barnett Trophy at the Leighton Sailing Center on Orr’s Island.

The annual Nicholas Barnett Trophy honors the late Bowdoin sailor Nicholas Barnett ’11, who passed away in a car accident during his first year in 2007.

“[Head Coach] Frank [Pizzo] tells the story every year that in Nick’s short time on the team he had a really big impact, and the Barnett is always remarkable because it’s an event with history,” Captain Kique Ruiz ’26 said. “To memorialize Nick Barnett every year and see the Barnett family come is always an amazing moment.”

With a southeasterly wind ranging from eight to 12 knots, a strong flood tide and a beautiful day, the Polar Bears took advantage of the conditions and swept the podiums with first, second and third place finishes out of a fleet of 15.

Skipper Shea McGrath ’27 was fired up by the results, highlighting that the team’s hard work has paid off.

“We had really good boat speed across the board, which is what we’ve been working on at practice, which is great to see, and the energy in practice has clearly translated to the weekends when we’re competing because the energy was really positive, and it was nice to go full steam into the weekend,” McGrath said.

For the Polar Bears, the fall season is developmental. Sailors race in either fleet or match races in preparation for a long season that stretches into late May. McGrath explained that the fall is when they begin to put pieces together and develop a strong team.

“[Pizzo] and [Assistant Coach] Corey [Radtke] do a really great job of emphasizing that for the first month and a half of the season, results don’t matter. These early months are all about setting our team norms, practicing hard and, most importantly, getting the team culture set,” McGrath said.

As the team finds its footing, over a dozen new members joined the fleet this fall. Crew Lottie Pare ’28 expressed that while the majority of the team now is new faces, each individual brings notable strengths and energy that add to the team’s momentum.

“While half our team are first years, they’ve been really learning-focused. The upperclassmen have done a really great job leading and showing us the ropes of the team, while the underclassmen, both first years and sophomores, have been able to drive it in a new direction,” Pare said.

Aside from the Nicholas Barnett Trophy, the Polar Bears boasted impressive results in the other three regattas.

In the Regis, the standout duo of Lauren Russler ’26 and Ava Tobias ’28 won the A Division while Mairéad Ritzel ’28 and Yasi Nee ’29 raced in the B Division. Both helped cement a third-place finish out of 18 teams at Boston University.

Just down the river at the Hatch Brown Trophy, Michelangelo Vecchio ’27 and Elizabeth Wire ’28 sailed in the A Division, Ethan Danielson ’26 and Kate Lavallee ’29 took third in the B Division and Kyra Phelan ’26 and Owen Benison ’29 competed in the C Division, pushing them to an overall eighth-place finish out of 18 teams.

Finally, Cole Amaral ’28 placed 22nd out of 31 individuals in the NEISA Open Singlehanded Champs.

Danielson emphasized that while he hoped for better results, he noted his overarching goals for his senior year: to take a second to smell the roses.

“I always remind myself to recognize the beauty in what I’m doing and how fortunate I am to be doing it. This is a fun thing to do, and, by the same token, I want to recognize the great people I get to do it with and maximize the time I have with them before graduating,” Danielson said.

Ruiz echoed this sentiment.

“The biggest thing I’ve been doing is just trying to enjoy it while it lasts. At the end of the day, we’re so lucky to get to go to a place like this and sail at a beautiful place like Schiller every day with some of my best friends and always remembering this even when things get a little harder…. I always want to find the joy,” Ruiz said.

This weekend, the sailing team will travel across New England to compete in the Hood Trophy, the Hoyt Trophy, the Eagle Invite and the Match Race New England Championships.