Sailors Start Season in Fine Form

The home waters of the Charles River proved especially warm for the Harvard sailing team during its opening weekend of the fall campaign, as the fifth-ranked co-eds and the No. 4 women took first place in three Massachusetts regattas and earned a 12th-place nod at a race in New Haven, Conn.

Harvard begins the season attempting to recover from the loss of four-time singlehanded champion Clay Johnson ’07 to graduation. The A-division team of captain skipper Kyle Kovacs and senior crew Elyse Dolbec becomes the Crimson’s new top tandem, in what Dolbec described as “a bit of a rebuilding year.”

“We have lots of new freshmen, so we’re focusing on their progress during the fall season,” she said.

HARRY ANDERSON TROPHY

Kovacs and Dolbec paced Harvard in the team’s 12th-place showing at the Harry Anderson Trophy on Saturday and Sunday in New London, Conn. The duo took second place in A-division, 20 points behind division and regatta winner Boston College.

The team faltered in B-division, however, as two juniors, skipper Jon Garrity and crew Lauren Brants, sailed to a 20th-place finish.

According to Dolbec, inconsistency across divisions is something that the Crimson will be looking to remedy as the year progresses.

“We’ve been working on developing a second B-division skipper,” she said. “I’m hoping by spring, people will be more up to the competitive level we’re used to.”

Roger Williams was the regatta’s runner-up, followed by Yale, Brown, Georgetown and St. Mary’s. Harvard’s 217 total points were just 15 points more than seventh-place Tufts.

WOMEN’S MAN-LABS TROPHY

The women opened their season in dominating fashion on Saturday, as the Crimson’s A- and B-squads helped it to a top finish at the Women’s Mans-Lab Trophy at MIT. The A-division team of junior skipper Megan Watson and sophomore crew Ali Beyer competed against some particularly strong competition, and totaled just 63 points through 10 races at the two-day event, including two wins.

In B-division, an experienced junior team of skipper Roberta Steele and crew Kerry Anne Bradford earned 71 points, good enough for best in the division and 14 better than second-place Connecticut College.

Overall, Harvard left with a 25-point win, beating Yale by a 134-159 margin.

CENTRAL SERIES ONE

Beautiful weather graced the one-day Central Series One, held at Tufts University on Saturday. After the eight races, both of Harvard’s teams were at the top of the standings—the B-division unit took first with a 27-point total and the A-division team was right behind, totaling 40 points on the day.

A pair of freshmen, skipper Teddy Himler and crew Grace Charles, had strong collegiate debuts in B-division, while sophomore skipper Drew Robb and sophomore crew Michelle Konstadt sailed for A-division.

Robb was impressed with the inexperienced Himler’s performance.

“Teddy did surprisingly well,” Robb said. “He beat me as the B skipper, which was a really good turnout for him.”

Robb’s usual crew, sophomore Hyunjin Kim, will be out for a few weeks due to a knee injury sustained during the offseason. Konstadt performed well in her new role, after preparing during the Crimson’s preseason races and practices in Cape Cod.

MIT INVITE

On Sunday, Harvard won the MIT Invite, cruising to easy wins in both divisions thanks to the efforts of two freshmen and two sophomores. In A-division, freshman Alan Palmer skippered with crew Konstadt to a 10-point win, while freshman skipper John Stokes and sophomore crew Kate Harris led a B-division performance that was 46 points better than second-place Tufts.

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.