The Bowdoin Orient

April 6, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 20

Sailing setting records

by JENN LARAIA, STAFF WRITER

   After a grueling week of training in Annapolis over spring break, the Bowdoin Sailing Team has begun its season with a bang. In fact the women's team is ranked 14th in the country, a first-time achievement. During their trip, the team sailed in the Owen trophy. Mitch O'Neill '01, Bowdoin's top skipper, sailed in the A division with crew Melanie Keene '03.
   The first-year duo of Steve Lampert '04 and Laura Hutton '04 sailed in the B division. Laura Windecker '03 and Tyler Dunphy '03 both competed in the Mid-Atlantic Single-Handed Championships, earning 19th and 28th places, respectively.
   The real thrill came this past weekend, when, as articulated by Coach Tom Sitzmann: "Bowdoin College Sailing reached a milestone…For the first time in recent memory or possibly for the first time ever, Bowdoin sailors won A Division at a Varsity Intercollegiate Intersectional Regatta against the nation's best women sailors!!"
   Ali Binkowski '03 and crew Francesca K-Whalen '03 defeated some tremendously talented sailors to win the A division of the Duplin Trophy. Laura Windecker '03 and crew Katy Adikes '04 earned tenth place in the B division, giving the Bowdoin team an eighth place finish overall.
   Binkowski modestly spoke of her (and K-Whalen's) stellar performance: "We are really excited about the victory, as it is a big step in the right direction for Bowdoin sailing. We hope that with continued hard work we can keep the trend going."
   Binkowski and her teammates will attempt a repeat performance this weekend, as the Bowdoin team is sending sailors to the Women's Emily Wick Trophy at MIT, the Team Racing Intersectional at Yale, the Eastern Series at UNH, the Women's Sloop Shrew Trophy at Harvard, and the Boston Invite.
   Although the conditions at Bowdoin are obviously not ideal, the team has been able to get their boats in the water for practice-the sailors will be ready to take on some tough competition this weekend.

Bowdoin: fastest on the water.
(Courtesy of Sailing Team/Bowdoin Orient)