Crimson Sailors Second in Nation

As the Harvard sailing team set out for the Sloop National Sailing Championships November 18-20 in St. Petersburg Florida, the team could only hope that the waters and the winds of Tampa Bay would bring them good fortune.

Although the winds were not entirely cooperative, the Crimson triumphed with a second-place finish, losing by three points to the Naval Academy.

The event, which included the top 10 teams in the country, spaded over a three-day period. The Crimson qualified for the event by taking the New England Championships in mid-October.

The Crimson, who sailed throughout the season in two-person boats known as larks, were forced to leave its familiar boats behind.

Since the yacht club that hosted the event owned twelve sonars, which are a type of three-person boat, the Crimson was forced to convert its sailing style.

The primary difference in the two types of boats is in the weight. While a lark weighs approximately 200 pounds, sonar weighs in at 4000 pounds.

"We don't sail them very often and so we weren't sure what to expect," senior Nick DuBois said.

To the Crimson's benefit, the other competing schools were also unfamiliar with the three-man boats.

The Crimson squad was comprised of three experienced sailors--DuBois, junior Brett Davis, and sophomore Mark Latin. The trio was paired together for only the second time in competition, with the first in competition, with the first time coming in the New England Championships.

With borrowed boats and a team that had not competed together on a regular basis, the Crimson came together as if this race was just like any other competition.

In a regatta, good communication and teamwork skills can make the difference between winning and losing.

The regatta consisted of a series of ten individual races, with three races on both the first and second day and four races on the third day of the competition.

At the end of the first day, the Crimson sat in fifth place on the scoreboard after coming in a disappointing ninth position in one of the day's races.

On the second day, the tides began to turn as the Crimson fought hard for the top spot.

"Halfway through the second day we were winning the race," DuBois said. "At the end of the day we were in second. Our whole mindset changed at this point. We forgot the fact that we had just put our team together."

With Navy in the lead and Tufts, the College of Charleston and Georgetown trailing close behind, the Crimson knew that the final day of competition would be intense.

The final day turned out to be a thriller. With the wind not cooperating, the sailors were forced to sit in the boat for an extensive period of time.

"There was a lot of lag time--we were sitting in the boat in Tampa Bay with nothing to do but hang out with each other," Latin said.

Going into the final race of the competition, only one point separated Harvard and Navy, but in the end, the Midshipmen prevailed.

After the race, the Crimson squad was extremely satisfied with its second-place finish. But the sailors realized that had the first day of racing been stronger, a first-place victory would have been likely.

"The end was frustrating for a bit because we hadn't won," Latin said. "But afterwards you realize that you just came in second in the country."

The Crimson came into the regatta not knowing what to expect from its opposition.

And in the end, it sailed away as one of the top teams in the country.

'Afterwards you realize you just finished second in the country.' Mark Latin