The Potomac River is usually seen as a hindrance for the Georgetown sailing team. The light winds on the District’s main waterway put the Hoyas at a disadvantage during practice, while other top teams train in good conditions up and down the east coast.

But this weekend, when the Potomac played host to the top women’s teams in the nation for the Atlantic Coast Championship, Georgetown was right at home. The Hoyas took advantage of changing weather conditions and cruised to a 23-point first-place finish. The regatta featured every team ranked in the top 13 except for the only west coast team, Stanford.

“We sail there all the time so we had a nice home-court advantage,” Head Coach Mike Callahan said, explaining that they saw the best and the worst of the Potomac over the course of the regatta.

With nice weather and good waves on Saturday, the fastest sailors were rewarded, according to Callahan. Georgetown’s sailors finished the day on top of the field, four points ahead of the second-place Yale.

On Sunday, when the winds shifted, Georgetown’s familiarity with the course and weather conditions allowed it to bust open a large lead. Strong wind came out of the west on the second day of racing, creating challenges for smaller sailors. In the final five races of the 12-race regatta, Georgetown dominated flat-out. The division A boat was in the top five of each of the last five races, while the division B boat posted three second-place finishes in the final five races.

The division A boat was composed of senior Emily Babbitt and sophomore Ashley Phillips, and the division B boat was freshman Sydney Bolger and senior Brooke Crawford. Callahan subbed in sophomore Ginger Cutler to both boats. Cutler, Callahan said, has an excellent handle on the boat when the wind velocity is high. Both the division A and division B boats came in second place.

Georgetown was ranked seventh in the latest ISCA poll after dropping out of the rankings altogether several weeks ago. They beat the six teams ahead of them – St. Mary’s (ranked first in the poll, finished seventh in the race), Yale (ranked second, finished third), Boston College (ranked third, finished sixth), Harvard (ranked fourth, finished fourth), Brown (ranked fifth, finished eighth) and College of Charleston (ranked sixth, finished second).

Coed Atlantic Coast Championship Cut Short

The Hoyas also sent a coed team to Hobart and William and Smith over the weekend. There was no wind on Saturday, so no races were held, and Sunday only saw five heats in each division. Georgetown came in sixth place, but was only 10 points out of second place.

“A five-race regatta doesn’t show much,” Callahan said. “The standings after five races aren’t usually the same as the standings after a [regular] 18-race regatta. We just didn’t start out hot.”

Sophomore Charlie Buckingham and senior Carly Chamberlain guided the division A boat to second after the five races, and the division B boat finished 11th.

Georgetown was one point behind fifth-place Boston College and two points behind fourth-place Navy.

The Atlantic Coast races concluded the Hoyas’ fall season. The team will be on the West Coast the first weekend after New Years for the Rose Bowl Regatta at the University of Southern California.

Callahan said the team would start practice for the spring season at the end of January, as they prepare for a run at their second national title in as many years.

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