NORTHEASTERNSAILING​

It was one of the biggest weekends of the season in NEISA, with the unofficial New England Championships for both coed and women's competition. The Erwin Schell Trophy and Victorian Coffee Urn are the qualifiers for the Atlantic Coast Championship for coed and women respectively. Conditions in New England were light and variable on Saturday and heavy on Sunday, with the front end of Hurricane Sandy starting to take effect.



At the Schell, the Huskies had their work cut out for them, needing a top 15 finish to qualify for the Atlantic Coast Tournament (top 8 advance to the ACC), with 18 teams competing for these positions at Brown University. Skipper Maarten Eenkema van Dijk sailed with Janelle Veary on Saturday, while Conor Lodge had Becker Awqatty in the front of the boat. With the heavy air on Sunday, Awqatty switched in for Veary as the A division crew, and Scott Goodrich crewed for Lodge.

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Early on, a battle for places 12-16 developed, with BU, URI, Coast Guard and Salve Regina all in  tight competition with the Huskies. A few deep races set the team back at the beginning of Sunday, but going into the last set there was just a 10 point spread from places 12-15, with NU in 13th. Both Eenkema van Dijk and Lodge sailed very strongly when it counted most, with three top 10 finishes in the last set, putting the Huskies in a solid 12th place by 8 points. With that, Northeastern qualified for the Atlantic Coast Tournament at St. Mary's in 2 weeks!



On the women's side of things, Tasha Greenwood skippered A division with Taylor Williams, and Heidi Hood and Estella Lofftus sailed B division down at Connecticut College for the Victorian Coffee Urn. Along with the top women's competition in NEISA, a few out-of-conference teams made for a tough fleet, with ACC stakes on the line. After a strong Saturday, the ladies dropped a few places on Sunday in the heavy air with particularly lightweight boats. Hood and Loftus had a strong performance, finishing 14th in B division with a bullet in their second race, and the Huskies finished 16th out of 18 overall. Although it was the end of their season, the women's team made big progress this season, continuing to build on last year's success.



Also on the Thames this weekend was the Nickerson Trophy, a freshman regatta where some of the top freshmen from across the ICSA compete. Elise Gehling skippered A division with Linnea Goldstein, and Jesse Thomas sailed with Kristen Kuzil in B division. After a wind delay on Saturday, the freshmen got off 10 races, finishing 12th out of 19 overall; 11th in A division and 12th in B division.