Sailors Catch the Wind, Place Teams in Nationals

The Harvard and Radcliffe sailors proved that they are worth their salt this weekend, tallying top-of-the-fleet finishes in five regattas.

Cottage Park Yacht Club hosted the major event of the weekend, the New England Dinghy Championships, held Saturday and Sunday on Boston Harbor. Harvard edged out URI and MIT in the final race to finish third and qualify for the national championships behind Tufts and Yale.

Tom Repps and Tony Leggett manned the helm for the Crimson yachtsmen in A and B division respectively, accompanied by Dave Poor and Jim Hammett as crew.

Tufts sailed away with it," co-captain Poor said yesterday. Yale also secured a berth in the nationals with its second-place finish.

Cassie Levitt, Lora Fleming, and Laura Brown were on course for the 'Cliffe as they triumphed on Saturday in the first annual Victorian Coffee Cup regatta on the Charles.

Levitt and Fleming co-skippered in A-division, while Brown skippered the B-boat, teaming with Ruth Bandler.

The Crimson swept low-point honors in both divisions. Levitt set the pace for Radcliffe, winning the opening race of the event in her first competitive effort of the season.

Radcliffe lost only to home teams in its New England Women's Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEWISA) events this weekend at URI and Stonehill.

URI hosted the NEWISA Powder Puf Trophy regatta on Saturday. Pam Mack and Sarah Herrick skippered for the Crimson, with Martha Kleinschmidt and Kit Tilly as crew.

Unstable conditions favored the URI squad. "We had shifty winds to none at all by midday. It really helps when you know the water," captain Mack said yesterday.

Salem State College triumphed at the NEWISA invitational regatta held Sunday on its home course at Stonehill. Mack and Herrick repeated their second-place performance in A and B divisions respectively.

Harvard and Radcliffe combined forces to swamp the opposition in the Three-Crew Co-Skipper Team Race regatta Sunday on the Charles.

Laura Brown, Russell Long, Buck Webb, Chuck Tabor, Levitt, and Fleming shared in the skippering duties for the Crimson.

This weekend both teams stay on the Charles as Radcliffe defends the Sloop Shrew Trophy for the eighth consecutive year, and MIT hosts the New England Single-Handed Championships.