Crimson Crews Turn in Choppy Weekend

Both the No. 1 Harvard co-ed sailing team and the No. 7 women’s squad were in action on the same days for the first time all season last weekend. A multitude of events forced the Crimson to mix up its teams—and Harvard came away with some mixed results.

TRUXTUN UMSTEAD TROPHY AT NAVY

Following the Navy Women’s Intersectional last week, it was the co-eds who traveled to Annapolis, Md., for a regatta that featured a total of 80 races in two days. Harvard took seventh overall in the 20-team field, earning 701 total points, ahead of eighth-place Yale’s 733, and a ways back from winner Georgetown, who took first with 538 points.

The Crimson looked strongest in its dinghy races—junior skipper Clay Johnson and junior crew Emily Simon guided the A division to seventh place overall, while senior skipper Vincent Porter teamed up with senior Ruth Schlitz and freshman Jon Garrity for a first-place finish in the B division.

“The conditions were pretty tough, and there were a lot of good teams, so we knew it would be a pretty competitive event,” Johnson said. “Vincent sailed really well, and he helped us stay in the top ten.”

The C and D divisions saw sophomore Kyle Kovacs and senior Matt Knowles take sixth and 16th place, respectively, in the first laser events of the year. The four divisions made it difficult for a Crimson team that sent sailors to a number of regattas this weekend.

“It put a premium on having a deep team, and I give credit to everyone who sailed,” Johnson said. “We were a little disappointed, and we’re still getting a few kinks out, but by no means is a lack of practice an excuse.”

METRO SERIES 1 AT BC

On Saturday, freshmen skipper Roberta Steele and crew Christina Cordeiro competed in a seven-team field along with freshman skipper Andrew Flynn and junior crew Ashley Nathanson at Boston College. Steele and Cordeiro’s total of 28 points earned fifth place overall, while Flynn and Nathanson’s 42 points took ninth place. Harvard was fifth overall in the event, while host Boston College took first.

TEAM RACING SERIES 1 AT BC

Steele and Cordeiro competed again on Sunday and were joined by captain Sloan Devlin and junior crew Christina Dahlman. Flynn and Nathanson also sailed again, helping Harvard pull out a third-place finish behind Boston College and Brown. As was the case on Saturday, the conditions were frigid, and a shifty northwest breeze caused a number of capsizes throughout the regatta.

ST. MARY’S WOMEN’S INTERSECTIONAL

The women were at St. Mary’s College of Maryland in a 15-team regatta on Saturday and Sunday, and, keeping with the theme of the weekend, the home school sailed well, as the No. 5 Seahawks finished second in the field, behind No. 3 College of Charleston.

Conditions were optimum for the races—a welcome change from the cold of the Northeast.

“It was a beautiful weekend, with a really nice breeze,” senior skipper Jessica Baker said. “We did some things really well, but also some things not so well.”

Baker and freshman crew Lauren Brants earned the B division a sixth-place finish, and freshman crew Megan Watson and senior skipper Mallory Greimann took seventh for the Crimson’s A division.

Harvard excelled sailing upwind, and most of the team’s starts were relatively clean. Still, with the other women elsewhere, even a strong performance wasn’t good enough to get into the top five.

“There were a lot of really good teams there, and a lot of them sent their top players,” Baker said. “Most of the major schools were there, so it was a pretty big event.”

The Crimson finished ahead of four ranked teams, including No. 1 Navy, which clocked in at 12th place.

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