Harvard Qualifies for ACCs at Home

There’s just no place like home.

The Harvard sailing team returned to the Charles River last weekend with one goal—to qualify for this month’s ACC Championships.

Both the women’s and co-ed teams did much more than that, winning the Victorian Coffee Urn and Erwin Schell Trophy respectively, to end the regular fall season on a high note.

“This weekend was really exciting for both the co-eds and the women. I was really, really excited for the co-eds and it was great that both teams did so well at home,” sophomore Meghan Wareham said.

Meanwhile, a contingent of Crimson freshmen sailed at the Nickerson Trophy, finishing ninth overall.

WOMEN’S VICTORIAN COFFEE URN

After an uncharacteristically rough finish two weekends ago, the Harvard women made the most of their last chance to qualify for ACCs at home. The Crimson, led by the A-division team of captain Megan Watson and Wareham, finished 13 points ahead of Ivy rivals Yale and Brown to win the regatta.

“At times we were in the right place at the right time, and at times…[it was] knowing how to sail on the Charles,” Wareham said.

Skipper Watson and crew Wareham navigated tricky conditions admirably on their way to a first-place finish in the A division.

“We had some very crazy wind which I think intimidated the other teams,” Watson said. “Both Emily [Lambert] and I, we weren’t intimidated by it, and we took advantage of our familiar waters and sailed well.”

The pair placed outside of the top ten just once in 11 races, and recorded five top-three finishes. Their combined 54 points placed them 16 points ahead of the second-place Bulldogs.

Meanwhile, freshman Lambert continued her successful rookie campaign by skippering Harvard to a fourth-place finish in the B division. Sophomore Quincy Bock and freshman Lilla Cosgrove split time as crew.

“[Lambert] came into college already a really talented sailor…and she has done a really great job adapting to the style of sailing that’s done in college,” Watson said. “She is very, very good in the lighter air, which was great because that’s what this weekend was.”

The Crimson’s B boat also recorded ten top-10 finishes, highlighted by a pair of seconds in Sunday’s competition.

Overall, Harvard finished the regatta with 119 points.

The team can now turn its attention fully to ACCs, which will be held in two weeks at Georgetown.

“It was the culminating regular season women’s regatta, so arguably everyone was peaking right now. The fact that we were able to beat out the teams from New England and from other regions as well, I think that’s a really good sign,” Watson said.

“I’m really excited that we qualified,” Wareham added. “Georgetown is going to be an even smaller venue on a river…I would think it would be fairly shifty conditions, so I think the more practice that we can get on the Charles, the better that will be for us.”

ERWIN SCHELL TROPHY

The Crimson co-eds got things started off on the right foot and held on through 18 races to win the Erwin Schell Trophy by a single point over host MIT.

Harvard placed first in both divisions in the regatta’s opening race, and remained at or near the top of the leaderboard for the rest of the competition.

The Crimson grabbed second place in both the A and B divisions to win the title, with each boat recording four wins. Consistency was the name of the game for Harvard, as the B-division boat placed in the top ten in all 18 races.

Sophomore skipper Alan Palmer and senior crew Lauren Brants sailed in the A division, while skipper and captain Jon Garrity and sophomore crew Grace Charles held down the B division.

“We had a pretty big lead on Sunday and it evaporated a little,” Garrity said. “It was good that we had that one point.”



The added challenge of sailing in two different boats—FJs and tech dinghies—helped the Crimson in the end.

“Tech dinghies are kind of weird boats. They only have one sail as compared to two,” Garrity explained. “I jumped out to a pretty big lead in B division in tech dinghies and then fell back a little bit on Sunday in FJs.”

But despite the sometimes-tricky conditions, being at home proved to be a great factor in Harvard’s success.

“It was a huge advantage—the teams on the river that sail in or near Boston did very well in this event,” Garrity said. “One of the bigger things is just comfort level for us. They were conditions we’ve seen before for the most part.”

Harvard finished with 219 points to MIT’s 220. Boston College was third.

“Most importantly, we are sailing in ACCs, which a week ago was not the case. It was very important [to get a win] because we’ve kind of been floundering for most of the season.”

The Crimson now looks ahead to ACC Championships, which will be held at Hobart & William Smith in Geneva, N.Y.

NICKERSON TROPHY

The Crimson sent four of its freshmen to the Nickerson Trophy at Mass Maritime, an event that serves as the New England Freshman Championships. Harvard’s rookies amassed 192 points, earning them a ninth-place finish in the 15-team field.

Skipper Jerry Tullo and crew Alexandra Jumper placed 10th in the A division, while skipper Annie DeAngelo, the only female skipper in her division, combined with crew Marie Appel to place sixth in the B division.

Connecticut College won the event with 95 points.

­—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.