Sailing Struggles Against Tough Winds

It was the wind that proved dominant this weekend, as the Harvard Sailing team struggled against surprisingly strong gusts on both Saturday and Sunday in four regional regattas. Despite some impressive individual finishes, the team overall faltered in the heavy wind, placing in the bottom half of all four competitions.

75TH ANNUAL OBERG TROPHY

In its strongest performance of the weekend, the Crimson took 11th on its home course on the Charles. Harvard crews were forced to deal with both unusually heavy winds for the basin and an unfamiliar type of boat.

“This weekend was a pretty odd weekend for the Charles,” freshman skipper Matt Mollerus said. “Usually we don’t get that much wind, but this weekend we saw probably an average of the upper teens on Saturday, and then Sunday was also very windy and puffy. Sailing on the Charles we’re used to very light and consistent conditions, so that’s something we had to adjust to.”

Mollerus and his crew, junior Sydney Karnovsky, were one of the bright spots for the team at the regatta. The two earned four victories in the B division on their way to a second place finish, just behind Boston University.

“At this regatta, we sailed a boat that we don’t usually sail, the Firefly,” Mollerus said. “But I feel like Sydney and I have sort of figured that out better than really any other team, so we were pretty dominant.”

Sophomore Marek Zaleski and freshman Emma Wheeler also performed well, earning two wins in the A division on their way to an 11th place finish, while junior Reid Bergsund and freshman Olivia Kjorlien earned two runner-up finishes on their way to placing 14th in the C division.

SHERMAN HOYT TROPHY

The Crimson had a tougher time competing on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, as the team finished 14th out of 17 teams for its worst finish overall.

Racing in 420s, Michael Drumm, Isabel Ruane, and Luke O’Connor struggled after their early success, finishing 16th in the A Division.

In the B Division, Ruane joined forces with junior Gram Slattery, sophomore Jacob Bradt, and freshman Julia Lord, all of whom contributed throughout the regatta.

CENTRAL SERIES 6

Sixteen teams from 13 schools came together for the Central Series 6 hosted by Boston College. After consistent racing from both boats over the two days, Harvard finished in 12th while two teams from Tufts claimed both first and second place overall.

The Crimson once again struggled with windier than usual conditions, as the sailors were forced to focus on just keeping the boat upright as opposed to more tactical matters.

“A lot of dealing with the wind is really just focusing,” freshman crew Bennett Capozzi said. “When it’s really windy your boat can be overpowered, which means it’s a lot of work to really keep your boat going fast and going forward and even not flipping, to an extent.”

Sophomores Dan Leichus and Adam Brodheim earned two top-ten finishes in the B division to place 10th. Capozzi handled crew responsibilities for all eight races junior while Ansel Duff and freshman William Bloxham rotated in and out as skipper as the Crimson’s A-division boat placed 13th.

STU NELSON TROPHY

As the coeds competed across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the women headed to Connecticut to compete in the Stu Nelson Trophy hosted by Connecticut College. Yale and Brown went back and forth all weekend, with Yale ultimately taking first.

Harvard was bolstered by the strong performance of junior crew Ashleigh English and sophomore skipper Sophie Bermudez. The two teamed up to take seventh in the B division on a victory and two runner-up finishes.

The Crimson’s performance varied throughout the regatta. In the A division, Harvard could not establish a rhythm, as senior Caitlin Watson and sophomore Kristina Jakobson placed all over the board as they struggled to a 16th-place finish. The Crimson finished the regatta 12th out of 18 teams, and, moving forward, will look to learn from its experiences with the challenging wind.

“We knew going into the weekend that heavy wind sailing was one of our weaknesses that we really need to work on,” Drumm said. “Our main focus now is our big qualifier this weekend at MIT for the Atlantic Coast Championships, so we’re focusing more on that at practice this week.”