Sailing Finishes Fall as No. 11 in U.S.
Perry Hung—The Tech
The MIT sailing team saw great results during the 2007 fall season, including overall wins at the Smith Trophy and the Erwin Schell Trophy (for the first time in 27 years). The coed team also had top finishes at the Captain Hurst Bowl in New Hampshire and the Crews Regatta at MIT. To finish out the fall season, the team placed 11th at the Atlantic Coast Championship at Eckerd College in Florida.
The coed team entered the season as the 10th ranked team in the country. Despite being ranked as high as eighth at one point, they ended the fall season ranked 11th in the country and sixth in the New England Conference.
Senior captains John M. “Jack” Field ’08 and Julie C. Arsenault ’08 were also named New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Sailors of the Week for the week of Oct. 28, after leading the Engineers to an overall win at the Erwin Schell Trophy.
The women’s sailing team won the A-division at the Women’s Man-Labs Trophy to begin the season. Unfortunately it finished one spot away at both the Stu Nelson Trophy and Victorian Coffie Urn Trophy from qualifying for the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championships. The team did finish ranked 10th in New England, while also receiving votes in the top 15 national poll.
Women’s captain Elizabeth L. Palmer ’07, along with co-captains Field and Arsenault, did great throughout the season to ensure new sailors were learning and having fun. Overall, the team added 17 new sailors in the fall, bringing the official team size up to 37.
The team is looking forward to the upcoming spring season, featuring a revised “tournament style” national championship format new to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association. During the preceding winter months, the team still takes part in land based fitness and classroom instruction, and it will train again at the U.S. Naval Academy for a week in March.
Matthew Lindblad is one of the head coaches of the sailing team.