No. 1 Sailing Places Third At Regional

An uncharacteristically low finish at the New England Coed Dinghy Championships still earned the Harvard sailing team a spot at the national championships, to be held next month in Hawaii.

The Crimson placed third overall, behind Dartmouth and Boston College.

“It wasn’t our best regatta,” junior co-captain Clay Bischoff said. “But as long as we qualify [for nationals], it doesn’t really matter how we get there.”

“It may be a blessing in disguise. We know what we have to improve,” Bischoff added.

The Crimson’s “A” boat finished in fourth place behind Yale, Dartmouth, and Boston College. The duo of senior Sean Doyle and junior co-captain Michelle Yu split time with sophomore Cardwell Potts and senior Susan Bonney to pilot the Crimson.

Harvard’s B boat—helmed by Bischoff and classmate Lema Kikuchi—finished in third place, behind the Big Green and the Eagles.

“Up until the last race it was practically a three-way tie,” Yu said. “It was a pretty tight regatta.”

Overall, Dartmouth, BC, Harvard and Yale all earned themselves tickets to Hawaii with the weekend’s performance. The Crimson will be there on an extended stay, having already qualified for the Team Racing Nationals last week.

“We have a great chance of winning nationals [despite last weekend’s performance],” Yu said.

In addition to the team’s success in qualifying for Nationals, the Crimson was honored in a vote by its sailing peers.

Among all New England sailing schools, Harvard had four crews and three skippers voted into the top ten. Doyle was named the top skipper in New England for the second consecutive year.

The Crimson will hold its annual alumni regatta next weekend.

The event, which focuses more on fun than on competition, should help the Crimson in preparation for nationals, as Harvard’s alumni are all skilled sailors.

Harvard’s preparation for that task begins in practice this week on the Charles and will hopefully culminate in early June a few thousands miles away from home.