W., Coed Sailors Advance in Singlehandeds

The Harvard women’s and coed sailing teams took advantage of the good weather this weekend to dominate the New England Singlehanded Championships at MIT and the New England Singlehanded Elims at Dartmouth, respectively.

The Crimson women had three skippers qualify for the North American Singlehanded Championship, which will be held Nov. 22-23 at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Of the 24 Tech Dinghies that advanced to the second day of competition, five qualified for nationals. The three Harvard representatives will be captain Jen Philbrick and sophomores Genny Tulloch and Sloan Devlin, while Brown and Yale will each send one sailor.

It is the second consecutive year that the Crimson has sent three women to the Championship.

Although Sunday’s weather was overcast with light rain and winds up to eight mph, the Harvard women were not slowed in their race to the top.

Philbrick finished first with a score of 29, 11 points ahead of Tulloch’s 40. Devlin was close behind, with a score of 43.

Philbrick jumped out to an early lead by winning the second, third and fourth races, while Devlin took the first and the sixth. Tulloch finished first in the last race, giving the Crimson six wins in eight races.

Because Tech boats are slower than many other boats in which Harvard competes, tactics become very important. Although the Crimson women rarely have the opportunity to practice in these boats, Philbrick felt that the shifty water gave the women an advantage, as they are used to sailing in these conditions.

On Saturday, the sun was bright and the skies were clear, but the wind was stronger. Fifty-eight boats competed for spots in Sunday’s races, and all four of Harvard’s female entrants advanced, with senior Clemmie Everett joining Philbrick, Tulloch and Devlin. Everett finished eighth with a final score of 88.

At Dartmouth, all three Harvard men qualified for the New England Singlehanded Championships, which will be held at Dartmouth Oct. 25 and 26 and will determine who moves on the North American competition.

Seven of the 20 competitors will be returning to Hanover, N.H. that weekend, led by sophomore Vince Porter, who placed first with 39 points. Freshman Clay Johnson came in fourth with 50 points, while captain Cardwell Potts rounded out the top seven with a score of 83.

The light morning breeze grew steadily over the course of the overcast day with winds of approximately 5-10 mph throughout the intense competition.

Potts, for one, was disappointed in his performance.

“I felt like a fawn surrounded by bucks,” Potts said.

During one of the races, a mechanism on Potts’s Laser broke down and he wasn’t able to finish. He returned with a first-place finish in the very next race.

Porter added four first places, while Johnson had two on the day.

The Crimson coed team will be competing next for the Danmark Trophy at the Coast Guard Academy on Oct. 4-5, while the Crimson women will be at BU for the Presidents’ Trophy on Oct. 4.