Sailing Begins Final Push in Action-Packed Weekend

The Harvard sailing team’s season is a marathon.

It seems rather appropriate, then, that Marathon Monday takes place every year in the heart of the Crimson sailing squad’s spring schedule.

With a fall season beginning at the start of the school year in early September and a spring portion finishing in early June, both the co-ed and women’s teams are faced with a rather long competition schedule. The Harvard sailors must possess great endurance in competing virtually every weekend throughout the spring, and just as the closing miles of a 26.2 mile course often prove the most crucial, the Crimson competes in its most important regattas near the end of its spring regimen. The Harvard co-ed sailing team always nears the end of its season with one goal in mind: to qualify for nationals.

The squad took the first step towards that target this weekend.

“Our main goal this year was to qualify for nationals and do well when we get there,” said sophomore co-ed captain Alan Palmer. “With our performance this weekend, we assured that we make it to the next round of qualifying, so we are really happy with ourselves.”

Attempting to rebound from some disappointing performances in recent weeks, both the co-ed and women’s teams took to the water this past weekend throughout New England against some stiff competition in some rather stiff winds. The co-ed team competed in the New England Dinghy Championship in Chestnut Hill, Mass., placing seventh overall, while the women’s team traveled to New London, Conn. for the Women’s Wick and Shrew Trophies, and brought home a fourth place finish. While the Crimson failed to emerge victorious at either of the regattas, both squads progressed on their season-long objectives as they close in on the championship portions of their schedules.

“We host the next round of qualifying for nationals, so it was really important we moved on this weekend,” Palmer said.

NEW ENGLAND DINGHY CHAMPIONSHIP

Harvard’s co-ed squad placed seventh overall at the New England Dinghy Championship hosted by Boston College and UMASS Boston over the weekend, earning the top-eight performance it needed to qualify for the next round of national qualifying later in the season.

“Any of the top 10 teams could have placed within the top eight,” Palmer said. “So we were really pleased with our seventh-place effort.”

Palmer skippered all 16 races of the A division, while senior Lauren Brants and sophomore Teddy Himler split time as crew. The Crimson earned a third-place finish in that division of racing.

In the B division, Harvard placed ninth overall, as Himler and senior Jon Garrity shared skippering duties, with sophomores Grace Charles, John Stokes, and Quincy Bock taking turns as crew.

“Teddy did a great job this weekend, contributing to both boats’ efforts this weekend,” Palmer said.

Boston College took home the team competition trophy for the two-day affair.

WOMEN’S WICK AND SHREW TROPHIES

Harvard’s women’s squad took home fourth place in the team competition over the weekend at the Women’s Emily Wick/Sloop Shrew regatta hosted by the US Coast Guard Academy. Senior skipper Megan Watson teamed up with sophomore crew Meghan Wareham to place first overall in the 16 races of the A division, earning five victories over the two days of competition.

“The pair of Watson and Wareham sailed consistently all weekend,” freshman crew Alex Jumper said. “Their strong performance in the A division greatly contributed to our fourth place team finish overall.”

The rookie duo of skipper Emily Lambert and Jumper paired up in the B division, earning a seventh-place finish. They had two top-three finishes during the weekend of competition.

While the freshmen could not match the high placing of their more experienced teammates in the A division, their performance was impressive given the fact that they have rarely been paired up in competition.

“The wind was doing strange things all weekend” Jumper said. “We faced a stiff Northerly on Sunday, and Emily and I, who were one of the lighter combos, had a nice end of the day on Sunday. We will only get faster as we get used to each other and practice our different maneuvers.”

The tricky winds on the weekend also provided some worthwhile practice for the Crimson, as it near their more important competitions late in the season.

“It will likely be consistently windy at nationals, so we will probably test out some of our heavier combos over the next couple of weeks in preparation,” Jumper said. “This practice will hopefully help us overcome some of the better teams we face.”

Squads from Yale, Boston College, and Charleston all finished ahead of Harvard on the weekend.

OBERG TROPHY

Also competing this weekend was a small Crimson contingent at the Oberg Trophy in Boston. Freshman Annie DeAngelo teamed up with junior Michelle Konstadt, while sophomore Colin Santangelo paired up with freshman William White. The duos led the Crimson to a twelfth place team effort.

—Staff writer Thomas D. Hutchison can be reached at tdhutch@fas.harvard.edu.