Crimson Unites in Hectic Weekend

It was back to the waters in full force this weekend for the Harvard sailing team, as the No. 4 co-eds—fresh off a jump up one spot in the national rankings—sailed in four regattas, earning a number of middle-of-the-pack finishes ranging from fourth to sixth-place. The No. 6 Crimson women were also out in their final regatta before next weekend’s New England Championships, finishing in ninth place.

ADMIRAL’S CUP

Harvard’s top fleet traveled to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. for the Admiral’s Cup on Saturday and Sunday, where the Crimson came away with a fourth-place finish in the 20-team field. Yale, St. Mary’s and Hobart/William Smith took the top three spots, while Harvard’s 312 total points were just enough to hold off Georgetown’s 325 points in fifth place.

“Everyone was all over the place in our first couple of races, and that was pretty typical,” junior captain Kyle Kovacs said. “There were a lot of big wind shifts, very big velocity differences, very inconsistent results.”

The shifty conditions primarily characterized Saturday morning’s action, but the Crimson calmed down during the afternoon and on Sunday. The senior tandem of skipper Clay Johnson and crew Kristen Lynch led Harvard’s A-division boat to a sixth-place finish, while Kovacs narrowly skippered past the Bulldogs on the way to a first-place finish for the B-division boat that also contained junior crew Elyse Dolbec.

In C-division, freshman Drew Robb guided his laser boat to a ninth-place finish.

“Drew wished he sailed more on Sunday, because he was certainly warming up and did well on Sunday,” Kovacs said. “It was too little, too late, I guess, because we didn’t really have enough to charge up the leaderboard.”

The regatta—which was won by Yale just days after relinquishing its No. 1 national ranking—gave the Crimson a preview of some of its competition in upcoming races.

“What’s very good is that there’s no C-division in nationals, so Clay and [my] point total won the regatta just in A and B,” Kovacs said. “Most of the teams sent their top guys in A and B-divisions, so it was a good indicator for New Englands and nationals coming up.”

GIBB TROPHY

Nine schools finished the action at the Tufts-hosted Gibb Trophy, held Saturday and Sunday. A dominating performance saw the hosts take first-place with just 81 points, 69 ahead of Salve Regina and Bowdoin in second- and third-places, respectively.

The Crimson finished fifth overall, with most schools sending two boats to compete in a single division. Harvard’s A-boat took eighth on the strength of freshman skipper Alex Bick and freshman crew Michelle Konstadt, while the freshman B-boat tandem of skipper Ali Beyer and crew Kate Harris earned 14th place.

WOMEN’S DELLENBAUGH TROPHY

A particularly heavy bout of blowing rain plagued the Crimson women on Saturday and Sunday at the Dellenbaugh Trophy held at Brown. Though Harvard took ninth-place in the regatta, the team performed well considering the circumstances.

“Both of the members of our top boat, [sophomore] Megan Watson and [senior] Christina Dahlman were both injured,” freshman Liz Powers explained. “They had minor injuries that they could have sailed on, but we wanted to play on the safe side and save them for next weekend.”

Powers skippered the A-division boat with sophomore crew Lauren Brants, earning the Crimson a ninth-place finish. In B-division, sophomore Roberta Steele stayed at her normal position handling sole skipper duties, while senior Cassandra Niemi and Brants shared time in crew.

“I think the women’s team came together some,” Powers said. “We usually have set crews, but this weekend we sailed with all different members of the team. I think that was good for us.”

St. Mary’s won the event, followed by Navy, Charleston, Yale and Boston College. Georgetown, Tufts and Dartmouth took the spots immediately before Harvard.

“Obviously the weather was pretty miserable [on Sunday], it was cold and raining all day,” Powers said. “But I think we did pretty well considering it was all so last minute.”

CENTRAL SERIES 4

MIT had the task of hosting the fourth edition of the Central Series, held on a Saturday characterized by cold conditions. Harvard took sixth-place in the event, which was won by Salve Regina. MIT took second place, followed by the University of Rhode Island and two Tufts teams.

Senior skipper Marion Guillaume and sophomore crew Kerry Anne Bradford helped the Crimson to a third-place finish in A-division, while the B-division saw a solid finish from a young tandem of freshmen. Skipper James Fish and crew Jessica Walsh placed seventh for Harvard, just a single point more than Wellesley in sixth.

BU TROPHY

The 59th annual Boston University Trophy took place over the weekend, with the Crimson finishing in fourth place. Senior skipper Matthew Knowles and senior crew Ashley Nathanson won A-division in decisive fashion for Harvard, while senior skipper Robby McIntosh and sophomore crew Margaret Wang took 10th for the Crimson in B-division. The first-place showing from Knowles and Nathanson was particularly surprising considering that the two don’t normally sail together.

“My usual crew, [senior] Emily Simon wasn’t available, so I was sailing in A-division,” Knowles said. “We didn’t even get a chance to practice together, but she did a great job of jumping into the boat and responding well to some difficult decisions.”

The Coast Guard Academy won the event, with Salve Regina and Tufts rounding out the top three.

“We did a good job getting off the starting line, and the rest of the regatta just kind of took care of itself,” Knowles said. “I was really happy with how things turned out.”

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