As the season nears its end, the Bowdoin Sailing Team braved the cold and wind to enjoy several respectable finishes at recent weekend regattas.
Members of the coed team traveled to Newport, where they sailed to a 10th place finish at the Rhode Island State Championships. Salve Regina played host to the 17-boat event held in 420s on Narragansett Bay. Although Saturday racing was canceled due to heavy fog, sailors enjoyed blue skies and big breezes on Sunday.
Skipper Alex Takata '12 sailed with crew Erin Taylor '09 to post several top-five finishes to finish fourth overall in the A-division. In the B-division, seniors Pete Wadden and Meredith Steck placed 12th.
"Newport was an exciting venue," said Taylor. "The big breeze and chop was at first daunting, but [Alex and I] focused on keeping our boat flat, working through the waves without taking on water, and pinching slightly to de-power and point better than our competition."
"Overall, we were able to sail a great regatta, staying consistent despite varying conditions," added Takata.
The Polar Bears also sent an all-female squad to compete in FJs at the Horn Trophy Team Race at Harvard. The Horn is one of the few team race events sailed during the fall season, which primarily focuses on fleet racing. Skippers Doria Cole '09, Charlotte Williams '10, and Katherine McNeil '12 sailed to an eighth place finish overall, posting a 7-8 win-loss record over the course of the two-day event.
Head Coach Frank Pizzo noted that the Horn was a good opportunity for team racing, which is the focus of intercollegiate sailing during the spring season.
"Overall, I think the Horn was a great experience for all of us and got us really excited about the upcoming team racing season," said Williams.
Two additional coed teams also traveled to the Boston area over the weekend to compete at MIT in single-sail technical dinghies. On Saturday, Andrew Howard '09, Caitlin Beach '10, Jeff Goodrich '12, and William Ho '12 finished third out of 25 teams at the Professor Noringer Trophy at MIT.
The team of DJ Hatch '11, Leah Hughes '11, Ben Berg '12, and Katharine O'Brien '12 posted similarly strong results on Sunday at the Crews Regatta, finishing fourth out of 20.
The Crews Regatta is an annual end-of-season event that provides an opportunity for sailors who normally crew to take the helm and skipper.
For the final weekend of the fall season, the sailing team will compete in FJs at the Atlantic Coast Tournament, a two-day championship intersectional held at Harvard.
"At the ACTs, we hope to finish the season strong and move up in the coed rankings," said Pizzo.