'Cliffe Sailors Rally At National Regatta To Take Fifth Place

The Radcliffe yachtswomen wrappped up their spring season this week with a respectable fifth-place finish in the tenth annual Women's National Intercollegiate Sailing Championship held on the Charles.

This year marked the ninth straight appearance of the 'Cliffe sailors in the prestigous event, hosted by MIT and the New England Women's Intercollegiate Sailing Association.

Tigers Roar Again

Princeton took top honors in the meet for the third consecutive year. Co-host MIT finished second.

A slim two-point margin kept the Crimson out of third place. San Diego State nailed down that spot with 84 points and Boston University was fourth with 85, one point ahead of the 'Cliffe.

Considering our season record, it's really an achievement to be so close to third," Martha Kleinschmidt said yesterday.

Captain Pam Mack and Sarah Herrick shared skippering duties for Radcliffe in A and B divisions respectively. Kit Tilly, Kleinschmidt, Laura Brown, and Cassie Livitt crewed for the Crimson effort.

'Cliffe Ran Aground

It looked like the 'Cliffe had run aground on Tuesday as the sailors tallied several last-place finishes and was a dismal eighth out of thirteen competitors.

But the Crimson caught the wind on Wednesday as they collected low-point honors for the day.

Spiritual Victory

"We were starting to move up on schools after Tuesday. It was good for our competitive spirit," Kleinschmidt said. "Sometimes it takes us a while to get these things out of our system," she added.

Coach Mike Horn said yesterday he was satisfied with the results. "If you eliminate the first day of the nationals, it was a great performance," Horn said. "I just don't know what took us so long to get it together."