Sailing Paced by Third Place Finish at New England Match Race Championships

A third place finish in the New England Match Race Championships propelled the Harvard sailing team into a four regatta weekend. This, in addition to the team’s rise to national prominence as women’s and coed teams were ranked 15th and 20th, respectively in the Sailing World Magazine’s latest poll, contributed to a successful weekend, despite the weather.

OBERG TROPHY

In the 74th annual Oberg Trophy, the Crimson competed in the Northeastern hosted event on the Charles River in the face of sporadic rains and lower temperatures. The wind varied, beginning as a light breeze in the morning and built throughout the day, surpassing five knots.

Racing in NC Fireflies, the team finished in their strongest position of the weekend with a sixth place result out of 17 teams and totaled 281 points. Last year, the team placed a lower ninth overall with only 196 points. Of the Ivy League teams, only Yale placed ahead of Harvard, finishing third with 244 points. However, the Crimson edged out Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell.

Three divisions raced, each made up of a single skipper and crew. For Division A, sophomore skipper Nicholas Karnovsky and sophomore crew Alejandra Resendiz represented Harvard with a high sixth place finish and 83 total points. Junior skipper Dylan Farrell and co-captain crew Nomin-Erdene Jagdagdorj competed in Division B, earning 99 points and a ninth place finish. Division C also finished with 99 points, but a seventh place result as sophomore skipper Andrew Puopolo and sophomore crew Divya Arya manned the boat.

“The team faced challenging conditions across New England this weekend,” Karnovsky said. “Sunday was incredibly windy which necessitated several personnel changes. Many of our boats switched to heavy-air combos instead of sailing without regular partners. While the team had mixed success overall, the changes made certainly helped us compete at a higher level."

FALL CENTRAL SERIES 6

Coming up in the middle of the pack, the Crimson team placed a balanced sixth out of 13 teams in the Boston College hosted regatta. Earning 58 points total, the group barely fell to Dartmouth who posted 56 points. Last year’s group placed fourth in the competition

Representing Harvard in Division A were freshman skipper Lucy Wilmot, sophomore skipper Andrew Puopolo, and freshman crew Tancredi Castellano Pucci Di Barsento. The group posted a fourth place finish with 29 points. The Crimson sailors in Division B also complied 29 points but placed in fifth. This group was led by freshman skipper Victoria Marquez and freshman crew Juan Crestanello.

MRS. HURST BOWL

Improving on their eleventh place finish last year, Harvard sailing sent two team to the Mrs. Hurst Bowl, hosted by Dartmouth on Mascoma Lake and came back with a ninth place result. Against Ivy League rivals, the Crimson finished at the bottom the pack, as Brown, Yale and Dartmouth claimed third, fifth and seventh respectively. Competing in Z420’s, the groups gained a total of 286 points.

The A division did find some success, taking seventh in their pool with 143 points. The boat was manned by junior skipper Taylor Ladd and junior crew Kirstin Anderson. While Division B, staffed by junior skipper Taylor Gavula and junior crew Emma Wheeler, also tallied 143 points, the group fell to tenth in their division.

SHERMAN HOYT TROPHY

Mirroring last year’s overall result in the 18 team regatta, Division A posted a strong fourth place finish in their side of the race with 85 total points as Division B fell to 15th with 141. Harvard placed tenth overall.

Hosted by Brown in Cranston, R.I., the Crimson tallied 244 points and edge out Cornell who finished with 374. However, division rivals Dartmouth, Brown and Yale finished out ahead of Harvard with 124, 155, and 172 points, respectively.

In Division A, junior co-captain, and skipper Nick Sertl, sophomore crew Christine Gosioco and freshman crew Jessica Williams, led the team to a strong finish, ahead of Yale. That finish was ultimately negated with 15th place showing by sophomore skipper Jackson Wagner, sophomore crew Catherine Tang, and junior crew Kevin Coakley.

“This weekend, we faced some difficult conditions with gusts up to 25 mile per hour on Sunday,” Coakley said. “I sailed in B division with Jackson Wagner once the breeze picked up. While we had a few good races, we had some difficulties with minor mistakes that were magnified by the difficulty of the fleet. Everyone had good boat handling and were fast in breeze, so sailing the shifts well was very important.”

Next weekend, the sailing team will compete in the Victorian Urn Trophy, the Schell Trophy, both hosted by the United States Coast Guard Academy, and the Nickerson Trophy hosted by Tufts University.