The 11th-ranked Washington College sailing team proved its victory at Yale’s Harry Anderson Trophy was no accident when they placed second at Dartmouth College’s annual Captain Hurst Bowl this past weekend.”We had a solid weekend,” said Washington College senior Mike Buckley. “Both [B division skipper]Colin Robertson and I sailed consistently, and this weekend, that was all we needed to be on top.” Buckley and his crew Halle Ricker placed fourth in A division, with Robertson and his crew Jen Hanley equaling that result in B division. The wind on Dartmouth’s Lake Mascoma was light both days, peaking at eight knots on Saturday and five knots on Sunday. “It can be very tricky when the breeze comes across the lake, ” said Dartmouth assistant coach Brian Stanford. “Normally the breeze is lightest in the summer months, and builds in the fall. This weekend’s breeze was steady in the afternoons, but the mornings were lighter and out of the southeast, a direction that is fairly unpredictable.” In the challenging conditions, Harvard came out on top with Cardwell Potts and Laura Schubert finishing third in A division, while Vince Porter and his crew Ruth Schlitz won B division. Harvard finished third at last week’s Harry Anderson Trophy. With two top-three finishes under their belts, the Harvard sailors are demonstrating that they are more than capable of defending the Fowle Trophy (best all around team), which they won last spring.At the top of A division, Dartmouth’s Scott Hogan and Amory Loring, and Brown’s Chris Ashley and Alison Berenback tied on points with the host team winning the tie-breaker with two first place finishes. Both teams were returning combos to the circuit, and veterans to the A division fleet.Porter and Schlitz’s winning point total in B division was 74, more than 20 points greater than the winning total in A division and an average of 6.7 points per race. The high point totals in B division were indicative of two things: first, the light and shifty conditions created especially challenging situations and all of the teams in B division had deep finishes. Second, there was no runaway winner in the division, meaning that the field is tight and anything could happen in the upcoming months as teams alter their line-ups.Among the other competitors were four members of the British All-Star team, which is in the midst of a month-long U.S. tour. “We’re just finally getting used to the way that Americans race,” said British team member Samuel Carter, “Now we’re looking forward to the Nevins Trophy and hopefully Hurricane Isabel, since we are all slightly larger combos and Isabel could bring big winds.”With the forecast looking blustery, and Isabelle’s predicted path inching closer to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, which will host the Nevins Trophy, next weekend’s sailing could be a large departure from the past two summer-like weekends at Yale and Dartmouth.Hurst Bowl Top 10 (A division/B division/total)1. Harvard 71/72 1432. Washington College 77/93 1703. Dartmouth 53/119 1724. Brown University 53/128 1815. Hobart/William Smith 100/81 1816. Tufts 83/104 1877. URI 132/74 2068. Georgetown 102/132 2349. St Mary’s 143/101 24410. Yale 163/97 260WINNING TEAM: Cardwell Potts ’04, Laura Schubert ’05, Vincent Porter ’06, Ruth Schlitz ’06For complete intersectional results from the 2003/04 season, http://www.collegesailing.org/00intersx/results.htm
