Sailing Places Second in First Race of Semester

While the Cambridge weather gods appear to be wavering in their decision to bestow spring upon us, the Harvard sailing team showed over the weekend that it is more than ready for the blue skies and, more importantly, the fair waters of the year’s second season. Competing in its first event since mid-November, the Crimson took advantage of an unseasonably pleasant weekend here in Cambridge to claim second place at the Sharpe Trophy Team Race on the Charles River.

“The weather was great” sophomore Grace Charles said. “It was great to get back out there again this weekend. It was a good opportunity for a learning experience.”

“We were very pleased with our performance this weekend in a pretty competitive tune-up regatta” sophomore Teddy Himler said.

Harvard displayed its depth over the two-day regatta as nine different Crimson sailors contributed to the squad’s 18-5 record, which fell just one win behind the event’s champion, Roger Williams University.

“Roger Williams is going to be really good this year and someone we will have to watch out for all season long,” Charles said.

“We held our own against Roger Williams with a 3-2 record against them,” Himler added.

Harvard appeared to have no trouble shaking off the rust in its first action in about four months, as the Crimson ended the first of two full round robins among the eight competing teams on day one of the regatta with a 6-1 record. This quick start propelled Harvard into the gold round robin on day two, where, along with the Hawks from Roger Williams, the two schools easily showed themselves to be the class of the field. Boston College finished the gold round robin with an 11-12 record, while Tufts took fourth overall with a 10-13 record. Connecticut College finished the silver round robin at 12-11 to claim fifth overall, with MIT (11-12), Yale (7-16), and Brown (4-19) claiming the sixth, seventh, and eighth positions, respectively.

“Many of the teams did not have all of their members compete here this weekend,” Charles said. “So we should have better competition throughout the rest of the year.”

Harvard’s counterparts from Chestnut Hill, the Golden Eagles from Boston College, should remain a force this year after being one of the best sailing squads in the country last year.

“Boston College should be really good again this year,” she added.

Himler compared the relationship to one of David vs. Goliath, yet remained optimistic. “BC has a great squad, but I believe we will continue to improve the rest of this season and will perform well.”

Newly-elected captain sophomore Alan Palmer skippered over the weekend, where he was teamed up with senior Lauren Brants as crew. Senior Jon Garrity, sophomore John Stokes, and Himler also served as Crimson skippers. Juniors Michelle Konstadt and Winston Yan, sophomore Quincy Bock, and Charles all competed as crews.

While no freshmen competed this weekend, Harvard anticipates some rookies should be able to contribute this season.

“Brendan Kopp was a great junior sailor and is really committed to learning how to sail on the collegiate level,” Himler said. “He will be integrated into the team over the next couple of weeks and should make some great contributions.”

The Crimson will compete in its first intersectional regattas of the spring next weekend, with the St. Mary’s Team Race Intersectional taking place in St. Mary’s City, Maryland and the Navy Women’s Intersectional taking place in Annapolis, Maryland.

“I believe we have very good prospects for the rest of the year,” Himler said. “We have a pretty young team but our sophomore and freshmen are really dedicated to learning and improving the rest of this season.”

—Staff writer Thomas D. Hutchison can be reached at tdhutch@fas.harvard.edu.