Harvard Meets with Mixed Success at Weekend Regattas

Competing in its first events since mid-November, the No. 6 Harvard sailing team opened up its spring season this past weekend with a pair of regattas.

The Crimson responded with mixed results, as one Harvard contingent placed in a three-way tie for second place in the Sharpe Trophy Team Race in Providence, Rhode Island, while the other team members struggled to a seventh-place effort in the Graham Hall Team Race held in Annapolis, Maryland.

Providing some consolation for the Harvard crewmembers this weekend was the fact that they competed against teams that have been practicing throughout much of the winter season.

“This weekend is always a difficult one for New England schools,” senior skipper Kyle Kovacs said, “since most of the Mid-Atlantic schools have been practicing consistently for some time now while we’re still dealing with below freezing temperatures every now and then, which means we can’t practice.”

This weekend’s action marked the opening of a long spring schedule for the Crimson, as it will continue racing over most weekends through early June.

“I think this past weekend was a good indication of where we stand and how much work needs to be done as a team to get us to the next level,” Kovacs remarked.

SHARPE TROPHY TEAM RACE

Brown University was the site of the Sharpe Trophy Team Race, as Harvard set sail upon the Seekonk River. The regatta consisted of six schools entered into a round robin format.

The Crimson’s 12–8 mark was good enough for a three-way tie for second place with Brown and Tufts.

No. 2 Boston College dominated the racing with an 18–2 mark over the two-day affair.

Harvard got off to a slow start on Saturday, as it completed the first two rounds of racing with an even 5–5 mark. However, it closed out the weekend strongly by winning seven of its last 10 races.

“Boston College was clearly the best team at the event,” Kovacs said, “but I think that we established ourselves as the second strongest team on Sunday after a sluggish start on Saturday.”

Kovacs, juniors Jon Garrity and Megan Watson, and sophomore Drew Robb split time skippering for Harvard, as senior Elyse Dolbec, juniors Kerry Anne Bradford and Watson, sophomore Michelle Konstadt, and freshman Meghan Wareham rotated crew duties for the Crimson.

“We have a fairly young team, and I think it showed a little bit this weekend,” Kovacs said. “At times on Saturday, we were like wild-eyed fawns staring into the open jaws of a lion. But I think as the regatta progressed everyone became a bit more comfortable and we certainly started performing better.”

GRAHAM HALL TEAM RACE

Harvard did not fare as well at the Naval University over the weekend in the Graham Hall Team Race, due in large part to the strong contingent of Mid-Atlantic schools that entered the competition.

Washington College won the two-day affair, with the Crimson finishing with a 1–6 racing record, its lone victory coming against Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Harvard’s all-freshmen lineup of skippers teamed up with a slightly more experienced crew to race against the opposing school’s A boats, so this event could prove a great learning experience for the rest of the season.

“I was proud our all-freshmen team could even sail with those other schools’ varsity boats,” freshman skipper Teddy Himler said. “We had trying conditions out there, with fronts coming in and big winds making it tough, so I think we learned a lot.”