Big breeze, rainy weather and unseasonably cold conditions greeted Bowdoin sailors at four different regattas this past weekend.
This weekend, the women's team looks to rebound from its setback last weekend and reestablish its top-10 presence in New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) rankings at the Stu Nelson Trophy, hosted by Connecticut College.
Headlining the upcoming weekend events for the co-ed team is the three-division Oberg Trophy, held at MIT.
Bowdoin will also send teams to compete in 420s at the Wellehan Trophy hosted by the University of Southern Maine as well as the Central Series hosted by Boston College.
Last weekend, five members of the co-ed team traveled to southern Massachusetts where they competed at the Great Herring Pond Open. Massachusetts Maritime Academy played host to the 17-boat event held in 420s.
Sailing in a strong northeasterly wind of 15 to 20 knots, the squad of Ben Berg '12, Jeff Goodrich '12, DJ Hatch '11, Laura Heyl '10 and Alex Takata '12 placed third overall at the end of Saturday's competition.
Races were cancelled Sunday because of a high wind advisory in the area, with projected gusts of up to 40 knots.
Berg, crewing for Hatch in B-division, attributed the team's success to both mental and physical endurance in shifting conditions and high wind.
"DJ and I were able to out-hike our lightweight competitors throughout upwind legs, and downwind we took a high lane to establish a plane and dig deep," Berg said.
"We were full out hiking all day, and our endurance began to pay off towards the end of the regatta," he said.
The Polar Bears' strong performance at the Great Herring Pond Open helped them rise one spot to the 15th position in the NEISA rankings.
Bowdoin also sent a consortium of six sailors to the Lane Trophy Team Race, hosted by Tufts University.
Sailing in Larks on Upper Mystic Lake, competitors battled strong winds and freezing rain throughout the day. Skippers Tom Charpentier '10, Billy Rohman '11 and Alex Sutula '13 sailed to a fifth place finish overall, posting a 2-4 win-loss record over the course of the event.
The previous day, four additional members of the co-ed team also competed at Tufts for a Saturday-only invitational, where they finished in eighth place out of a fleet of 12.
Meanwhile, the women's team competed in 420s on Long Island Sound at the Yale Women's Intersectional.
At one of the most competitive women's events of the fall season, Caitlin Beach '10, Jane Koopman '10, Kat McNeil '12, Coco Sprague '11 and Charlotte Williams '10 struggled in a cutthroat fleet, ultimately finishing in 20th place.