The sailing team continued its climb in the NEISA rankings after two weekends of strong finishes. Rising two spots, the co-ed team is now ranked 16th out of the 30 teams in New England.
This past weekend was very successful for the Polar Bears. Sailing on home waters in the Nicholas Barnett Trophy, the team put up strong finishes, which led to a No. 3 finish in the tight fleet.
The event, which is named in honor of Nicholas Barnett '11, who was killed in a car accident two years ago, holds special significance to the team as a time to remember a friend and teammate.
Alex Takata '12 and Laura Heyl '10 dominated the weekend, winning the A division by 24 points. Charlotte Williams '10 and Coco Sprague '11 finished fourth in the B division. The regatta came down to the last race, with only three points separating the top teams.
Also last weekend, smart sailing by six of the team members led to a win in the J/105 division of the Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Offshore regatta in Larchmont, New York.
"We knew we could do it, but not having a dedicated offshore team, we knew it would be a challenge," said Tom Charpentier '10.
D.J. Hatch '11 skippered the Morning Glory, owned by Dr. Carl Olsson '60.
"We went into the regatta with minimal practice in the boat together so we were pleased with how well we worked together," Hatch said.
Two weekends ago, Takata and Heyl topped the competition at the Hewitt Trophy, winning the A division by an impressive ten points. Combined with the scores of Alex Sutula '13 sailing with Isabel Low '13 and Zac Fox '13 in the B division, the Polar Bears finished third at the event, which was hosted by USM.
The rest of the team competed in Boston, finishing in 11th and 12th place at the Central Series at Tufts, and 16th in the 26-boat fleet at the Professor Smith Trophy at MIT.
The women's team also competed at the Regis Bowl hosted by Boston University. Sailing in combined divisions, the team placed 12th and 13th in the 20-boat fleet.
This weekend, the team will compete at the Herring Pond Open at Mass Maritime and two events at Tufts, while the women's team heads to New Haven for the Yale Women's Intersectional.