Buoyed by strong results, the sailing team is preparing to host and compete in the Atlantic Coast Tournament. Fresh from a first-place finish at the Crew's Regatta and a sixth at the competitive Rhode Island State Championships, the Polar Bears are optimistic about a strong home-water performance this weekend.
This Saturday and Sunday, Bowdoin will host 16 teams from the New England and Mid-Atlantic sailing conferences, all of whom qualified for this event with earlier strong performances.
The Polar Bears will be pitted against several teams ranked nationally in the top 20 by Sailing World, including Dartmouth College, Tufts University and the Coast Guard Academy.
Five of the sailors slated to represent Bowdoin are fresh from placing sixth out of 18 schools at the Rhode Island Championship in Newport.
The team also posted an impressive fourth place in B division. Captain D. J. Hatch '11 skippered in B division with Clare Henry '12 and captain Coco Sprague '11.
Hatch and Sprague agreed that focusing on the basics and staying strong in high winds was crucial to their success.
"It was pretty breezy last weekend," said Sprague. "It was important to keep the boat flat and push through."
"Focusing on boat handling and speed put us out front and enabled smart, simple tactical decisions that kept us where we wanted to be," said Hatch. "We will be looking to do the exact same thing against a tough fleet this weekend at ACTs."
First year duo Pete Edmunds and Kim Dempsey sailed A division in Newport and had a win in race seven.
Edmunds distinguished himself as the only first year skipper in A division.
"It was really important for us to stay focused, get good starts, and sail smart," said Dempsey. "We managed to put everything together and got a bullet. It's definitely an encouragement heading into our final event this weekend, and hopefully we end the season on a high note."
Bowdoin's crews proved themselves on Sunday at MIT in the Crew's Regatta, in which crews take the helm.
Ben Berg '12, Leah Hughes '11, Mae Speight '13 and Molly Clements '13 won, posting 10 top-three finishes in 12 races.
"This weekend's win at the Crew's Regatta really demonstrated how well rounded we are as a team," said veteran Hughes. "Ben and I had a comfortable lead throughout the day, posting by far the most consistent scores. We approached this regatta with the sense of professionalism that we approach every regatta, planning to do our best. I'm proud of the Bowdoin crews for coming away with the win this weekend—we did our part to show other teams that the Polar Bears are a force to be reckoned with."
The Polar Bears also proved themselves at MIT on Saturday, as a team of mostly rookie sailors took fourth at the Professor Noringer Bowl.
Tom Peabody '14 and Ayaka Okawa '14 sailed A division and notched two second-place finishes, with Ben Mende '13 and Katharine O'Brien '12 in B Division also posting second and third.
"We were successful once we figured out how the tech dinghies worked because we were in phase most of the time. For two races, the only boat ahead of us was MIT, who are tech dinghies experts anyway," said Okawa, who had not sailed before this fall. "Doing well in this event was very exciting for me because it was only the second regatta I've sailed in but we beat other sailors who were more experienced."
The strong showing by this young team shows the depth of talent on Bowdoin Sailing, talent that the team hopes to showcase this weekend at ACTs.