Sailing Team Races Four Regattas

UPDATED: April 25, 2012, at 5:45 p.m.

Four regattas in one weekend spelled a mixture of success and failure for the Harvard sailing team. The co-ed team raced at the Wellesley Invite and competed for the the Thompson Trophy and the Admiral’s Cup, while the women raced at the Women’s New England Championship.

THOMPSON TROPHY

The Coast Guard Academy hosted the Thompson Trophy, an intersectional regatta.

On a foggy Saturday morning, the fleets sailed the W-4’s into a dying southern breeze. In the afternoon, sun came out and the breeze strengthened to eight to 12 knots before weakening towards the end of the day.

Sunday began with gentle northern winds that increased to eight to 12 knots throughout the day. The breeze stayed steady until a monsoon arrived in the afternoon.

The Crimson placed 17th out of 18 teams. Rival Yale, who Harvard has faced time and again this season, took first place once again.

A young FJ boat composed of freshmen Gram Slattery and Brian Drumm competed for the Crimson and finished in 16th. Sophomore Ames Lyman and freshman Mary Finlayson followed in 17th in the B division in giving Harvard 278 points.

ADMIRAL’S CUP

King’s Point hosted the Admiral’s Cup intersectional regatta.

Saturday began with KP trapezoids in a shifty southern wind which measured 4 to twelve knots. In the afternoon, a burly 15 to 22 knot southern wind surfaced, helping out the larger crews.

Colder weather and rain on Sunday created larger waves and made for tighter runs.

The division A boat with senior Brendan Kopp, sophomore Sarah Pierson, and freshman Richard Bergsund held onto seventh place. The other boat, skippered by freshman Michael Drumm, finished with 197 points, putting Harvard into 14th place for the B division and seventh overall.

WOMEN’S NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

Boston College hosted the Women’s New England Championship, which was the conference championship regatta. These races determine who goes on to the women’s semifinals in Austin, Texas in late May.

Racing in FJ’s, Harvard sailed into seventh in a 17 team field while the hosting Eagles claimed victory.

In division A, seniors Emily Lambert and Alexandra Jumper finished with 117 points for fifth in their division.

“Emily Lambert has led the way as our top skipper in competition,” sophomore Ben Lamont said. “But she has also led the way in preparing the younger members of our team for competition at the highest level.”

The division B boat came in behind the senior boat with 154 points. The combined effort of the two divisions earned the Crimson a spot in seventh place overall.

WELLESLEY INVITE

Harvard boats raced at the in-conference Wellesley Invite meet, hosted by MIT.

The Crimson came in fifth out of 12 teams while Tufts took first and second.

Harvard finished the first set in first place with only six total points. But in the second set the Crimson sunk to third after eighth and ninth place finishes in the A and B divisions, respectively.

From there, the Crimson’s rank continued to fall–after the B division boat failed to complete race four, receiving a 13 point addition, it tied for seventh place with Brandeis. But solid fifth and fourth place finishes in the fifth race propelled the squad up into fifth place overall.

“I think we’re right where we want to be. We’re a young team overall with some very talented seniors,” Lamont said. “Therefore we’re focused on both winning Nationals this spring and gaining experience for the future.”

—Staff writer Kendra F. Rosario can be reached at kendra_rosario@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: April 25

An earlier version of this article contained several errors. The article incorrectly stated that Isabel Ruane skippered during weekend; in fact, she crewed. It incorrectly stated that Ben Lamont skippered the division B boat at the Admiral's Cup; Michael Drumm actually skippered the boat, which Lamont crewed in one race. Finally, the article incorrectly stated that the Crimson women competed in the Wellesley Invite. In fact, three of the four athletes who sailed there for Harvard were men.