Brian Doyle Open

The scenic Mascoma lake, from the Abnaki word meaning "much grass", "salmon fishing", or "red rocks", served as the venue for the first annual Brian Doyle Open. Brian Doyle coached the Dartmouth team for twelve years, with a one year hiatus to run an Olympic campaign in the Tornado class. He coached Dartmouth to two National Championships, and had numerous Dartmouth sailors named to the All-America team during his tenure. "BD", as he is affectionately known, still lives in Hanover with his family, and occasionally makes it down to practice to duel with current team members. The Dartmouth Sailing program would not be where it is today without Brian's contributions.

Saturday at the BDO began with a light northerly breeze, exceeding the expectations of the forecast for "calm", as a high pressure system sits over northern New England. The breeze was stable enough for two races in A division, and one in B, before the fickle wind gods reared their ugly heads. The lake glassed over just after noon, providing a picturesque reflection of Shaker Village in Enfield, but not the requisite ingredients for sailboat racing. After a lengthy delay on shore, with a few zephyrs from the south keeping our hopes alive, racing was cancelled for the day.

Competitors arrived to another glass-off on Mascoma this morning, until the regatta's namesake made a cameo appearance, bearing the gift of a warm southerly breeze. The wavering wind waffled through large shifts and velocity changes, at times allowing rare sightings of an elusive white cap. The varying conditions challenged all but Dartmouth's skipper Hunter Johnstone '16, sailing with crews Victor Hollenberg '14, and Evan Read '16, who constructed a perfect picket fence with 6 points in 6 races to win A division. Big Green skipper Sarah Williams '16 and crew Caroline Gray '16 capitalized on their home-field advantage to win B division, and a combined 12-point victory over the BU Terriers. Recently-installed outdoor boathouse speakers, and a good ol' charcoal grill, paired with 70 degree weather and cloudless skies, prompted visiting sailors to describe the weekend as "the best regatta ever".

The following chart shows the relative rank of the teams as of the race indicated. Note that the races are ordered by number, then division, which may not represent the order in which the races were actually sailed.

The first place team as of a given race will always be at the top of the chart. The spacing from one team to the next shows relative gains/losses made from one race to the next. You may hover over the data points to display the total score as of that race.