Yacht Club

With enthusiasm high, the Dartmouth Corinthian Yacht Club is well under way for the spring season. Despite the lack of open water on Lake Mascoma, membership had already reached a capacity of eighty members early last month; and the racing schedule for both varsity and freshmen is full.

After a mediocre fall season the varsity has already shown promise of a better record for the coming months. Bolstered by returning varsity men Eric Bergstrom '55, Captain Bill Bronk '55, Lee Smith '56, Commodore Dave Fitch '54, and Dick Kurts '56, the team is well balanced for both dinghy and larger boat racing.

Top honors go to Eric Bergstrom who was rated third among New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association skippers. An E Scow sailor from Wisconsin, he is Dartmouth's mainstay for the coming months. During March Bergstrom and Lee Smith traveled to Manhasset Y.C. as members of an N.E.I.S.A. all-star team which was to join with the top Middle Atlantic crews in a challenge race against Manhasset's top frostbiters. Unfortunately a roaring northwester balked any attempts to even approach the water. A try by Bergstrom quickly landed him in the frigid waters of Long Island Sound.

The team did become active over spring recess. Bill Bronk and Lee Smith with crews Larry Seymour and John Baldwin managed to gain third place in the Connecticut Valley Championships. And a Raven crew consisting of Bergstrom, Fitch, Hugh Nolin, and Kurts did well in a regatta at the Coast Guard Academy.

The freshman team, although still unsettled, is very strong. George Reichelm and Jim Blattmann both scored above the 500% mark during the fall.

Individually members are also active in sailing circles. Howie Clinch '56 traveled to New Orleans to participate in the National Star Championships, and Lee Smith has been elected to the executive committee of the N.E.I.S.A., a policy group for the New England area.

Commodore Fitch and Captain Bronk have been working hard to get the remaining 14's sold so the Club will be able to purchase two Tech dinghies. That will bring the total to six Tech dinghies, which are needed to run a successful regatta here.

Thanks to the liberal contributions during last year's drive, the Club is much better off financially. This year's debt to the College now stands at $395, and any donations over this amount will be used towards next year's payments. Alumni will be interested to note that any checks made out to Dartmouth College and earmarked Corinthian are tax deductible.

The clubhouse itself is going through growing pains. The new addition this year is a flag-pole. Members have been stripping and preparing the spar, yard-arm, and gaff and the burgee should be flying in style for the first home regatta.

On May 16 the Dartmouth yachtsmen will be hosts for the Third Spring Invitational Regatta, at which the Phelps Trophy is at stake. In other May competition, they will participate in the New England Dinghy Championship Eliminations at M.I.T. on May 2, in the Eastern Dinghy Championships (George Owen Trophy) at Brown on May 8-9, and, if they qualify in the May 2 eliminations, in the New England Dinghy Championship Finals at the Coast Guard Academy on May 15-16.

April regattas in which the Indians competed were those at Tufts, Brown and the University of Vermont. [At Tufts, they finished first in a field of six teams to win the Friis Trophy.]