Sailors Blow Two Weekend Regattas

The Harvard sailing team really ran into lousy weather last weekend in its two regattas. Cold, wet and blustery winds plagued both the Ivy League Championships in New London, Ct., and the Friis Trophy Regatta on Mystic Lake in Medford. And by the time the weekend was over, the spirits of the Harvard competitors were even bleaker than the weather conditions.

For Harvard, traditionally one of the strongest sailing squads in New England, the two regattas produced one disaster and one unequivocable horror show.

The disaster came in New London at the Ivy Championship races. Harvard came in a disappointing third as a team, while skippers George Putnam and Dave Brownlee failed to coordinate their sailing talents in A and B competition, respectively.

Putnam, crewed by John Dodge, sailed well through the first day of the regatta, taking advantage of a light but steady breeze to place first in the A competition at the close of the day. Unfortunately for Harvard team chances, Brownlee and his crewman Steve Saudek did poorly the first day of sailing.

The next afternoon roles were reversed. As the breeze came up Putnam's performance declined. And ironically, Brownlee finished fast, saving his strongest sailing for last.

Brown and Bulldogs

With Putnam and Brownlee failing to author good performances at the same time, Brown took the Ivy League title on the strength of a first in overall B competition. Yale, the host team and familiar with the conditions, took second.

"We knew that we had a chance to win," Putnam said yesterday, "but we also knew Brown and Yale were very strong. We're quite unhappy about finishing third."

In the Friis competition Harvard sailed disastrously. The Crimson finished sixth out of seven teams and in the course of the two days managed to capsize twice--once in A and once in B action. In A racing Clem Wood, crewed by Tim Black, finished consistently fourth or fifth, but B skipper Chris Middendorf was too erratic, finishing high in some races but languishing at the bottom of the standings in others.

Harvard expected to be one of the strongest teams in the regetta, but turned in a devastating non-performance. "We really bombed out," Black said yesterday.

The Friis Trophy was taken by MIT, further establishing the Engineers as the premier team in New England. Tufts, sailing two freshmen, took second. New York Maritime and Stevens Institute followed at third and fourth respectively, with the University of Rhode Island taking fifth.

The only team that Harvard managed to finish ahead of was a pathetic Boston College team.