Weather problems continued to plague the sailing team last weekend, but the lack of wind did not calm the team's enthusiasm for the upcoming New England championship events.
This weekend, the top collegiate sailors from around New England will travel to Connecticut to compete in the 70th Erwin Schell Trophy and the 45th Women's Victorian Coffee Urn. Bowdoin has qualified for both events based on this season's performance rankings. In addition, the first year sailors will compete in the Nickerson Trophy, the freshman championship at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
"We've been working hard [to prepare]," said crew Kim Dempsey '14, "and it will be fun to compete at an all-freshman event."
Both the Schell Trophy and the Urn promise to be highly competitive events. At the Schell, the team hopes to place 14th or better in order to qualify for the Atlantic Coast Tournament, which will be held at Bowdoin November 13 and 14.
Coach Frank Pizzo is particularly hopeful about the women's team's chances at the Urn.
"The women's team has improved a great deal this fall," he said. "They are still inexperienced on the women's circuit, but they are talented and can surprise people this weekend."
If the women place in the top seven, they will qualify for the Women's Atlantic Coast Championship, held November 13-14 at Eckerd and South Florida Universities.
The team encountered blustery conditions on Saturday, but no wind on Sunday, which lead to the cancellation of Sunday's racing throughout New England.
The women's team traveled to the Boston University invitational, where they placed seventh, even though they were the only entirely female squad in high wind on Saturday. Emily McNeil '14 skippered in A-fleet with crew Madison Rex '14, with Sarah Fiske '13 and Alex Brown '13 in B-fleet.
At the Oberg Trophy, the coed team posted inconsistent scores, landing in 16th of 18 teams. The team showed signs of greater things, though, including a win by Jimmy Rohman '12 and Ben Berg '12 in race 3B, but could not consistently post high scores. The sailors ended up with a total of 374 points over 10 races across three divisions.