Dartmouth Alum Erin Maxwell '01 Wins 470 Women's World Championship

Erin Maxwell ?01 and Isabelle Kinsolving concluded their winning streak down under by winning the 470 Women's World Championship in Melbourne, Australia. The impressive victory follows their win earlier this month at Sail Melbourne, an ISAF Grade 1 event.

The team of 28-year-olds defeated a very competitive fleet of 58 boats from across the globe, finishing an emphatic ten points ahead of the world's number one ranked team and silver medalists in the event, Italians Giulia Conti and Giovanna Micol.

Maxwell had an outstanding career sailing for the Big Green, leading the team to a 1st-place finish at the 2000 ICSA Women's Nationals, as well as 2nd-place finishes in 1998, 1999, and 2001. She was named a Women's All-American skipper all four years, and was also named a Co-ed All-American skipper in 2001, an honor rarely awarded to women in the history of US college sailing.

“Everyone learns from Erin, she is a very talented person, and her talents extend beyond sailing,” remarked Brian Doyle, former head coach of Dartmouth sailing. “She excelled as a student at Dartmouth, as a member of singing groups at the College, and since graduating she has started a successful career in investment banking.”

Last fall, Maxwell and Kinsolving finished second at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for sailing, narrowly missing the spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. The 470 is raced in the Summer Olympics as the women's two-person sailboat, and attracts the very best sailors from around the globe.

"If there was ever a way to make me feel better about not being selected for the Olympics ... this is it," an ecstatic Maxwell said. "I don't know what the future holds but we're going to savor today, that's for sure.”

Schedules