Warm-Water Sailors Adapt to Cambridge Weather

Heading out into the icy tundra of the Charles River Basin can be no easy task during the month of November for even the most experienced cold weather New England sailors. But for two members of the Harvard Sailing team, junior Juan Carlos “Juanky” Perdomo and sophomore Taylor Ladd, that undertaking has taken even more getting used to.

Perdomo and Ladd, hailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas of the U.S. Virgin Islands, respectively, grew up racing in the warm ocean breezes of the Caribbean, not the biting chill that accompanies Boston winters.

When first encountering these types of conditions, both were somewhat unsure how to exactly tackle the problem at hand. Initially, the duo did not know how to fully prepare themselves and needed to learn the ropes from teammates better acquainted to the cold. But there was only so much they could do. Cold-weather sailing was a relatively foreign endeavor they were unable to fully relate to until they themselves experienced the numbing pain for the first time.

“Back home, we could sail year round in 70-80 degree weather,” Ladd said. “One thing I had to learn was how to dress effectively to keep myself warm in 30 degrees…. [But] at a certain point, there’s only so much you can do to stay warm and keep your mobility, so what’s probably most difficult is being able to perform while still cold.”

Ladd had to learn that lesson the hard way.

But frigid weather is not the only difference between their college racing life and their Caribbean sailing careers. Back home, both of these sailors raced in Olympic-style events that mainly consist of two to three approximately hour-long tilts per day of racing.

On the competitive college scene, however, teams sail much shorter races, typically lasting just 15 or 20 minutes, and individuals compete in about eight to 10 of those contests on any given day of a regatta. These shorter races are quite different tactically than Olympic-style ones, as they require additional decisiveness and situational awareness, as well as constantly focused attentiveness.

“In college it’s really important to stay focused during the entire day,” Perdomo said. “You can often times be on the water for six to eight hours racing nonstop, which makes it easy to zone out from time to time and have poor results. Also, in short courses, speed is not as important as it is in Olympic sailing and results are more influenced by good decision making and starting technique than by sheer boat speed.”

Both sailors agreed that college regattas also require further versatility. One needs to understand the various intricacies of many different modes of competition. No longer are these racers just sailing one type of boat throughout the entire year with fairly similar conditions for each race, as is the norm in the Caribbean. Instead, they must adapt to sailing in different bodies of water with variable environments, while racing in multiple types of boats throughout the season.

According to Ladd, “you have to adjust to the boats you’re sailing each weekend, the conditions in each place …[depending on] whether you’re sailing on a river, lake, or ocean, and [use] local knowledge about the venue.”

The winds in these types of events can also be quite erratic, leading to further complications when setting and executing race plans. Unlike Perdomo and Ladd’s high school regattas, which were typically set far offshore where there tends to be consistent breezes, the Crimson’s regattas are rather close to shore, leading to more fickle winds while racing.

As a result, the two have been required to think on their feet much more often throughout the course of a regatta than they had in the past. But it seems as if having been forced into quickly and completely shifting their tactical styles to adjust to the conditions has allowed both these racers to become more well-rounded sailors.

“The wind here in New England is not as consistent as it is back home,” Perdomo said. “It’s usually not as strong and changes direction very frequently, which makes it complicated to sail well tactically. Looking back, I think this difference has been a big boost for my sailing because it has helped me improve in conditions I had been weak at before college.”

Obviously, adapting to these major shifts in sailing methodology did not occur overnight. Both individuals required time and practice to adjust to the faster pace of racing and life at Harvard in general. Learning experiences and slight setbacks peppered their freshman seasons.

Looking at how they are handling themselves now, however, one would assume they had been racing under these circumstances throughout their entire lives. Both sailors have become stars on the Crimson sailing team.

Ladd recently became the first Crimson sailor to qualify for ICSA Women’s Singlehanded National Championship since 2008, while Perdomo placed first at the NEISA Men’s Singlehanded Championship in late September to qualify him for the ICSA Singlehanded National Championship for the second time.

The drastic change in these sailors’ environment has not been a barrier to success. Having to acclimate to sailing life in Cambridge coming from the Caribbean gave Perdomo and Ladd perspective and experience that provides an added edge. They each came out stronger from their own personal trial by fire.