Harvard Takes Fifth at Navy

It was the final weekend of the spring without a regatta for the Harvard co-ed sailing team, but part of the lineup still got in some work, as the No. 4 women’s squad took fifth place at the Navy Women’s Intersectional in Annapolis, Md.

The first four weekends have all included just a single event for the Crimson, but beginning with next week’s St. Mary’s Women’s Intersectional and Truxtun Umstead Trophy at Navy, every weekend through April has Harvard competing in at least two events.

Despite the grueling nature of the upcoming schedule, the women treated the Navy Intersectional as more than just practice for future races.

“We had a good opportunity to practice boat handling,” captain Sloan Devlin said. “It was very light all weekend, and a little difficult, but we sailed very well.”

Devlin skippered the A division in a boat with veteran junior crew Christina Dahlman. The duo only finished lower than fifth twice in 11 races en route to a first-place finish in the division.

The B division earned a four-way tie for fifth in the fifteen-team field, which featured eleven teams ranked in the top 15 in the nation. Despite a few hiccups, freshman skipper Roberta Steele and freshman crew Christina Cordeiro helped pace the Crimson both days at the regatta.

“We had a couple problems coming off the starting line, but we did well overall,” Steele said. “We had the same amount of current all day, so that was hard, and it was another factor you had to think about.”

Harvard saved its best for last in the B division, as the Crimson stormed back from a late deficit on Sunday, earning third- and first-place finishes in the regatta’s final two races.

“We had a much better day [Sunday],” Steele said. “We had much better starts and much better boat speed, which helped us get a few top-five finishes.”

Steele and Cordeiro’s finishes earned them 82 points for the weekend, while Devlin and Dahlman notched 44 at the top of the A division.

Harvard’s total of 126 points was well ahead of sixth-place Connecticut College’s total of 175, but the gap separating the top five teams was only 23 points.

Much like her counterparts, Devlin and Dahlman sailed better as each day progressed.

“We showed improvement as the regatta went on,” Devlin said. “It was a lot of fun to improve, and to see things get better for us.”

A fluctuating wind affected conditions both days for the Crimson, especially on Saturday. The regatta was delayed an hour and a half by an eastern breeze, but it leveled out later in the day—something that seemed to frustrate sailors on every team.

“In the first four races, there was a little bit more breeze,” Devlin said. “It dropped off significantly, and that allowed for much more fluky racing. All the competitors were having problems.”

Sunday began with winds from the southwest, but fluctuations in the breeze first caused a postponement midway through the competition before the regatta was finally called a bit early due to the trying gusts.

The conditions might not have been representative of what Harvard will be facing for the rest of the season, but the regatta served as a good test before the hectic period of the year begins.

“[The conditions] tried our patience,” Devlin said. “But it’ll make us better in future regattas.”

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.