The sailing team dispersed around New England last weekend for five different competitions. The team's work in practice was reflected by the improvement in its scores from last weekend.
The co-ed team traveled to the University of Vermont to compete in the Lake Champlain Open. Competing in FJs, the team of Alex Takata '12, Laura Heyl '10, DJ Hatch '11 and Mae Speight '13 placed seventh in the 15-boat fleet. The team had some impressive finishes, including a first place for Takata and Heyl in the A-division.
"This week we really improved as a team, and were far more consistent on the water," said Takata.
Also competing in Vermont at the Middlebury Cup were Billy Rohman '11, Ben Berg '12, Jane Koopman '10 and Clare Henry '12. The team finished in third place out of nine teams overall.
Both boats sailed particularly well, with Rohman and Berg winning two of the six races in the A division and Koopman and Henry finishing in the top five every race in the B-division.
Additionally, a total of eight team members competed at the Central Series hosted by Boston College. Sailing in BC's brand new fleet of 420s, the teams faced big breeze on Saturday, with more manageable conditions on Sunday, finishing 10th overall.
The Polar Bear's new talent got a chance to learn from one of the legends of the sport at the Freshman Symposium held by Tufts. After a clinic held by Tufts head coach Ken Legler, the Bowdoin boats competed on Sunday finishing 12th and 13th at the 18-boat event.
Meanwhile, the women's team headed to Dartmouth to compete in the Mrs. Hurst Bowl on Lake Mascoma. The team finished in 14th place with Charlotte Williams '10 and Coco Sprague '11 sailing in the A division, and Katherine McNeil '12 and Caitlin Beach '10 sailing in B-division.
The team improved as the weekend progressed.
"Towards the end of the event, both A and B division were doing a great job of playing the shifts and working to get to the breeze first," Sprague said. "Kat and Caitlin really excelled once the breeze toned down on Sunday."
In fact, the pair posted top-five finishes in its last four races.
The team hopes to build on the momentum from last weekend at their upcoming competitions. This weekend it will be competing at the Hood Trophy at Tufts, the Chris Loder Trophy at the University of New Hampshire, and the Central Series at Boston University.