Sailing Competes In Three Regattas

For the second weekend of the fall season, the Harvard sailing team sent contingents to three separate regattas, coming out with a fifth, a ninth, and a 10th place finish.

NEVINS TROPHY

One contingent of Crimson sailors traveled to King’s Point, New York to take on 19 other teams from all over the US. Harvard ended the weekend in fifth.

The A division went smoothly, with senior skipper Marek Zaleski sailing with both junior crews Julia Lord and Olivia Kjorlein. Over the course of eighteen races, the Crimson came out in seventh.

The squad came into some trouble in the B division, when freshman skipper Jackson Wagner arrived too late to sail in the first race. As a result, sophomore Kevin Coakley stepped in to skipper again with Kjorlein as his crew.

Wagner then stepped in at skipper for the rest of the division, with Kjorlein, Coakley, and Lord alternating at crew. In the end, the sailors ended the division in 15th.

“While everyone had good races, mistakes early in some races cost us,” Coakley said. “We will work on minimizing mental errors and staying at the top of the fleet for the rest of the season.”

Despite the issues in the B division, Harvard upped its presence in the C division, with junior Juan Perdomo taking first place—a full 39 points ahead of second place Georgetown.

The regatta was ultimately won by the Hoyas, but other teams such as the US Naval Academy, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Old Dominion competed as well. The pool included teams from all over the United States.

The variety of teams reflects some of the stiff competition the Crimson is likely to see in bigger regattas later this year.

“As a team, we try to get better every weekend and prepare for the fall New England championship,” Coakley said. “Every regatta this weekend had very deep fleets, so everyone who sailed matched up against top sailors.”

HATCH BROWN TROPHY

Another Harvard group stayed in Cambridge, ending the regatta hosted by MIT in a tie with Brown. While this regatta did not have teams from such a geographical range, the pool still included a number of competitive teams. The gold went to Yale, which was followed by Roger Williams and Boston College.

This regatta was sailed in fireflies in fleet-style racing, with three divisions.

The pairing of seniors skipper Andrew Mollerus and Sydney Karnovsky held dowd the A division, coming in seventh. In the B division, sophomore skipper Nick Sertl and junior crew Nomin-Erdene Jagdagdorj took a tie at ninth place.

The places continued to fall in the C division, with freshman skipper Nick DiGiovanni and junior Priscilla Russo sailing to a 12th place finish.

STU NELSON

Yet another group of Harvard sailors traveled to Connecticut College to compete in FJs against a pool of 18 teams from conferences all around the US. The Crimson finished in 10th, while first went to the US Coast Guard Academy.

“We worked hard on communication and strong boat handling and are hoping to improve, and to continue working on our starts and on making strong tactical decisions throughout the races,” sophomore crew Ariana Gross said.

The A division was held down by senior skipper Sophie Bermudez and junior crew Emma Wheeler. The duo finished in 10th, tied with Fordham. In the B division, the pairing of freshman skipper Martha Gavula and Gross took 11th.

One of the greatest challenges of these early regattas has been integrating the new freshmen into the team.

“We've tried to spend a lot of time these first few weeks getting to know everyone and bonding as a team,” Gross said. “Some of the challenges that come with the opening regattas are new skipper/crew combinations learning to sail well together as well as (particularly for the younger sailors) adjusting to a higher level of competition than high school sailing.”

—Staff writer Isabel DeLaura can be reached at idelaura@college.harvard.edu.