The sailing team faced blustery conditions last weekend as it raced to prepare for the New England Championships, which begin in only one week. The team competed at Yale in the Ferrarone Team Race, at Boston University (BU) in the eponymous BU Trophy, and in Newport at the 3rd Southern Series, run by University of Connecticut.
This weekend, the team will compete in four events, scheduled to yield the most effective preparation for the New England Championships, which will be held at the University of Rhode Island (URI) on April 16-17, as well as for the Women's New England championships, which the Polar Bears host at Bowdoin's Bethel Point sailing center.
Coed team sailors are traveling to Fordham University for the New York Dinghy Open and to Massachusetts Maritime Academy for the Admiral Alymer's Trophy. The women's team will compete at BU for a third week in the Women's Presidents Trophy, and will be joined in Boston by an additional coed team sailing the Longfellow Bridge Invitation at Harvard.
Head coach Frank Pizzo reminded the team that this is an "important weekend leading up to our championship season."
Captain D.J. Hatch '11 agreed, saying "with all the work put in over spring break, we're looking forward to a solid, competitive weekend as we prepare for New Englands."
At the Ferrarone Team Race, nine Polar Bears competed in a head-to-head format in which each college has three boats and two schools compete against each other. Viktor Bolmgrem '11, Jimmy Rohman '13 and Pete Edmunds '14 skippered for Bowdoin with rotating crews including Ayaka Okawa '14, Mae Speight '13, Kim Dempsey '14, Ben Berg '12 and Tom Peabody '14.
After the first day of racing, the team sat in a three-way tie for fourth place with BU and URI. On Sunday, sailors were greeted by a heavier breeze, which quickly built to unsafe speeds.
After a number of boats capsized, the regatta was canceled early. Enough races were held to break the tie, however, landing Bowdoin in fifth ahead of BU.
The racing squad is looking ahead to Team Race New England Qualifiers at Roger Williams University.
"At Yale, we were able to identify aspects of our strategy that we would like to improve as we prepare for team racing champs in two weeks," said Dempsey.
On the Charles River, the women's team placed eighth of 14 at the BU Trophy, led once again by captain Coco Sprague '11 and crew Isabel Low '13, who notched at 10th in the A division. Sarah Fiske '13 and Emily McNeil '14 showed flashes of brilliance in the B division, earning three third-place finishes on the way to an overall eighth.
Sailors at the Southern Series in Newport were greeted by sunny weather, and an inconsistent breeze ranging from a moderate 10 knots up to a blustery 20. Official results are not yet available, but unofficial scores at the end of the regatta had Bowdoin in seventh out of 15 schools. Tom Peabody '14 and Leah Hughes '11 sailed consistently in a hotly contested A division, earning four sixth place finishes in a row, followed by a top result of fourth place.
Ben Mende '13 and Katharine O'Brien '12 had a less consistent day in B division, but were able to stay in the top half of the fleet and matched the A team's fourth-place finish.