Harvard Sailing Takes Fourth; 'Cliffe Team Wins Two Firsts

The Harvard sailing team came from twenty points behind to just miss qualifying for the national championships by only one point in the regatta held last weekend at Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.

In Rhode Island, the Radcliffe side of Crimson sailing divided its forces among two regattas and took first place in both.

The 'Cliffe sailors went to the University of Rhode Island to capture the Powder Puff trophy. The oldest trophy the Radcliffe team sails for, it is also the one they have the hardest time winning. Last year the Radcliffe women took it for the first time in five years.

Five teams participated in the five races of the meet. The course is relatively short, making the start an important factor in the races.

Pam, Mack, along with her crew, Ruth Brandler, sailed one of her best races of the season, taking three firsts and two seconds in the B division. In the A division, Marie Roehn came out of a slump by the end of the meet and finished the last two races to take a second and a first place.

The combination of the scores of the two boats gave Radcliffe first place.

In Connecticut on the first day of the New England Championships last Saturday, the Harvard sailers had to deal with a light and fluky breeze. But Coach Mike Horn said after the regatta. "None of our skippers sailed very well." By the end of the day the Crimson sailors trailed the leading boat by twenty points.

On Sunday Tony Leggett won in the A division to bring Harvard within four points of the University of Rhode Island. Tim Black also won his race, but U.R.I. moved up at the end of the race and Harvard still needed one point to be one of the top three teams to qualify for the nationals. Tufts, Yale and U.R.I. took first, second and third places in the regatta.

The Harvard sailors still have a chance to qualify by competing in the New England single-handed regatta next weekend. Radcliffe has already qualified for their division and will go to Chicago in the middle of June. They have qualified every year for the last eight years and have won that prize more often than any other team in the country.

At home on the Charles this weekend the 'Cliffe sailers also won the Coach Alumnae Regatta for Women in which each team has to enter a student, and a coach or an alumna. Junior Sarah Herrick, Kathy Angell and ski team coach Barbie Grant represented Radcliffe. Mike Horn, who coaches both squads, couldn't sail because he was with the men's team.

"Shifty winds kept changing about 180 degrees about every ten minutes. We would try to tack and made a full circle without changing the heading." Herrick said.