Maryland Road Trip Brings Fourth-Place Finish

The Harvard sailing team took to the water again this weekend for the second time in its spring season. While both teams were originally scheduled to compete in separate Maryland-based events this weekend, only the women’s team made the trip to the Old Line State to race in the Navy Women’s Intersectional in Annapolis.

The co-ed team passed up on the St. Mary’s Team Race Intersectional in St. Mary’s City and instead stayed close to home to compete in practice team racing against some very talented alumni on the Charles River.

The Harvard women stood up admirably to the challenge of being the sole Crimson representative on the water, however, as they took home a fourth-place team finish in a field of sixteen teams from up and down the East Coast.

“We were happy with our results this weekend,” sophomore Meghan Wareham said. “It was a great place to start and we now know what we have to work on as the season progresses.”

Although the Crimson lineup at the Navy Intersectional utilized pairings that had not been together for quite some time, the Harvard women competed well in finishing just three points out of second place.

The Crimson were represented by senior skipper Megan Watson and her crew, Wareham, in the A division races, where the pairing took home a fifth-place finish.

“This was the first time I had been paired with Megan in a 420 [type of boat] since probably October,” Wareham said. “We did not have much wind, so the races were quick, but we still got some solid racing in.”

The Harvard freshmen duo of skipper Emily Lambert and crew Annie DeAngelo represented the Crimson well in the B division, where the pair also took home a fifth place finish, matching their veteran teammates in the A division with forty four points.

“The freshmen performed really well this weekend,” Wareham said. “This was really a jump-in and go regatta, as we have not really done much fleet racing practice. However, we were still happy with our results.”

Charleston took home the top team prize on the weekend, with the Elis from Yale and the Boston College Eagles tying for second place. The Crimson and St. Mary’s College rounded out the top five of the affair.

“Most of the competitive teams on the East Coast were there this weekend,” Wareham said. “And we look forward to competing with them later this season and beating them.”

Wareham pointed out that the one area the Harvard women hope to improve upon as the season progresses is their starts. She said the Crimson needs better consistency in getting off the line, as they were plagued this weekend with rather mediocre starts.

Back in Cambridge, the Harvard co-ed squad decided to skip the six-hour van ride to St. Mary’s City over the weekend and opted to instead engage in some practice team racing with some Crimson alumni and other talented sailors.

“With everyone having midterms and papers right now, we decided to stay home and not make the long trek two weekends in a row,” junior Drew Robb said.

The Harvard co-ed team is scheduled to compete in Maryland next weekend at the Truxton Umsted Regatta and to spend its Spring Break in the region as well.

However, even without being able to compete against its collegiate counterparts this weekend, the squad took advantage of a great learning opportunity.

“This weekend presented us with a unique opportunity to learn from some talented sailors,” sophomore Teddy Himler said. “We were sailing against some reigning team racing champions and some four-time All-Americans. The opportunity to race against them allowed us to learn from the best sailing teams out there.”

Himler also commented on the Crimson’s hopes for its next few regattas, as it begins the fleet racing portion of its schedule.

“We hope to gain consistency over these next couple of weekends and really come together as a team.”

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