Crimson Sails Away With Mixed Results

A first-place finish proved elusive for the Harvard sailing team in another busy weekend, as the Crimson placed fifth, tenth, eighth, and second in its four regattas.

Aside from senior Kyle Kovacs’ win at the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Men’s Singlehanded Championship last weekend, no Harvard team had placed higher than third since September 23, leaving both the No. 5 co-ed team and the No. 4 women’s team with much to prove.

YALE WOMEN’S INTERSECTIONAL

On Saturday and Sunday, the Bulldogs hosted the Yale Women’s Intersectional, a 22-team regatta with a combined 12 races. Harvard finished tied for 10th overall in a very competitive field.

“I think our goal was to do a little better than we finished,” said junior women’s captain Megan Watson.

In the face of inconsistent wind conditions, Harvard never seemed to get comfortable.

In A-division, skipper Watson and freshman crew Meghan Wareham finished in 13th place with 132 points. The B-division hardly fared better, earning 136 points behind sophomore skipper Liz Powers and sophomore crew Kate Harris in 11th place.

“There were very big differences in the winds,” Watson said. “It was very shifty and variable. If you weren’t paying attention it was easy to lose a lot of boats very fast.”

St. Mary’s won the regatta with 132 points, followed by Charleston (145), Georgetown (151), Navy (178), Old Dominion (214), and Boston College (214).

“We look to improve on our mistakes next weekend,” Watson said.

CAPTAIN HURST BOWL

The co-eds competed in the Captain Hurst Bowl on Saturday and Sunday, a 22-team event hosted by Dartmouth.

The Crimson finished eighth in the 15-race regatta thanks to the B-division tandem of junior skipper John Garrity and junior crew Kerry Anne Bradford. The pair rescued the team by making a late push and winning four of the last six races. A total of 93 points earned them first place in the division.

In A-division, sophomore skipper Drew Robb took the reins while filling in for senior Kyle Kovacs, who had a week off after his singlehanded performance last weekend. Robb teamed up with sophomore crew Michelle Konstadt.

“I was trying to do the best I could,” Robb said, “[but] we’re still working things out.”

Using a new boat and facing difficult conditions, the pair placed 11th with 170 points.

No. 1 Boston College (BC) easily won the regatta with 162 points, 29 ahead of second-place MIT and 55 points ahead of third-place Dartmouth.

MIT INVITE

MIT hosted a low-key invite this weekend, which featured 12 local teams. Tufts’ two teams finished first and second with 42 and 70 points, and MIT rounded out the top three by notching 72 points.

Sophomore skipper Alan Brick and sophomore crew Winston Yan sailed for Harvard in A-division, earning fifth place with 45 points. Sophomore skipper Ali Beyer and freshman crew Katherine Savarese placed sixth in B-division with 56 points. Overall, Harvard finished in fifth, 11 points behind fourth-place Boston University and five points ahead of sixth-place Providence College.

LANE TROPHY

Harvard salvaged the weekend with an impressive showing at the Lane Trophy, a team race event hosted by Tufts.

“It was a gorgeous day for sailing,” senior Elyse Dolbec said. “It was a little cold and the breeze was puffy.”

Freshman skipper Alan Palmer, junior crew Lauren Brants, freshman skipper Teddy Himler, freshman crew Grace Charles, freshman skipper John Stokes, and crew Dolbec competed together in Sunday’s event.

“We have a young team,” Dolbec said. “We have little to no experience in team racing, so we’re a little behind the curve in that.”

But the Crimson, using four freshmen, showed experience beyond their years. Harvard tied for second in the first round with a 4-2 record, behind Boston College, which went undefeated. In the second round, the Crimson swept MIT, Vermont, and BC on its way to a 7-2 overall finish. Despite its head-to-head victory against the Eagles, BC’s first round lead proved insurmountable, as they won the regatta with an 8-1 record.

Dolbec said she was impressed by the freshmen.

“They all did really well, they work really well together,” she said. “Himler is really good. He takes up a leadership role.”