With dropping temperatures, diminishing daylight and disappointing results last weekend, the sailing team is preparing for a final push to improve its ranking before the season ends.
Bowdoin is the first alternate to the Atlantic Coast Tournament, which it will host at Bethel Point November 13 and 14. The team failed to qualify for the Atlantic Coast Championships (ACCs), Women's ACCs, and the Freshman Intersectional, but still has a few opportunities to score points. This weekend, the team will compete in the Rhode Island State Championships at Salve Regina University in Newport.
Coach Frank Pizzo sees the event as "another chance to score valuable points for our power ranking" which the team did not improve at last weekend's events. "It is important that we end the season on a strong note," said Pizzo.
Captain D.J. Hatch '11 agreed, saying that he "wants to keep or improve our position, so that we are top 16 and our scheduling is better for the spring and next fall."
The sailing team is currently ranked No. 16 in NEISA, down from its high of No. 13 a month ago. By staying in the top 16, the team will automatically qualify for the New England Fleet Race Championships in the spring and be able to enter more competitive regattas in the coming year.
Last weekend, the first year sailors traveled to Massachusetts Maritime Academy for the Nickerson Trophy, which functions as a freshman conference championship. Sailing in A division, Pete Edmunds '14 and Kim Dempsey '14 continued their successful season, placing fifth of 15 teams, and notching three first-place finishes. Emily McNeil '14 and Madison Rex '14 struggled in the B division, finishing 12th, to land the Bowdoin first years in 10th overall.
Farther south, the co-ed team competed at the New England Championship, the 70th Schell Trophy at the Coast Guard Academy. In B division, Hatch skippered with crew Clare Henry '12 for the first 14 races, then Ben Berg '12 for the final four. The trio placed 15th.
In the A division, Berg crewed for Jeff Goodrich '12 for the first 14 races before his move to the B division, and was replaced by Wes Fleuchaus '11. The team placed 17th in the A division and overall.
Next door to the Schell, the women's team competed in the Victorian Coffee Urn with a disappointing finish of 18th out of 18 teams overall, though they were not in last either division.
"It was a really tough fleet—top women sailors in the country," said captain Coco Sprague '11. "Connecticut is a swirly venue; current and breeze are early [and] unpredictable."
Sprague placed 17th in the A division with Isabel Low '13.
Skipper Sarah Fiske '13, who placed 17th in B division at the event with Alex Brown '13, is focused on moving forward.
"The end of the season should be about demonstrating to ourselves and to NEISA that we are a strong and deep team, even though we are small," she said. "We also want to set ourselves up well for the spring."
Fiske echoed the thoughts of many Bowdoin sailors, who are looking forward to the return of key players Alex Takata '12 and Katie Doble '13 for the spring sailing season and the chance to improve fitness during the winter before warming up on the team's spring training trip to Florida.