Schell Shocked: Harvard Sails to a Second

Four sophomores carried the Harvard sailing team to a second place finish in this weekend's Schell Trophy Regatta at MIT.

As one of the top six teams from the Northeast, the Crimson qualified for the upcoming Atlantic Coast Championship--a precursor to Nationals.

Of the 15 teams at the Schell Regatta, about a dozen were vying for the six slots in the regional championship.

The first day of racing was smooth sailing for Harvard, as it ended Saturday in first place--four points ahead of defending national champion Boston University.

Harvard had pulled ahead of B.U. after Brown lodged a protest against the Terriers, disqualifying them from one race.

Sunday saw the Crimson four--skipper Gordon Burnes and crew Petra Schumann in the "A" Division and skipper Peter Wagner and crew Jeff Kurland in the "B" Division--hold the lead until the 15th of 16 races.

Sophomore W.B. Peale replaced Schumann as crew in the 15th race to give the Crimson a stabler boat in the strong winds.

But despite the switch, Burnes' boat was capsized by a drastic windshift during the first leg, automatically booting Harvard to dead last (16th place) in that race--and dropping the team five points behind B.U. in the overall standings.

"We had a very clear shot of winning the regatta going into the 15th," Kurland said. "After we capsized we were in a deep hole."

Harvard snagged fourth and first places in the next two races to climb part way out of that hole, but needed a strong finish from Wagner in the 16th B division race.

The Crimson needed to beat B.U. by at least five places to capture its first Schell Trophy in over a decade--but at the starting line, the Harvard boat collided with another and Wagner was hit in the head.

Bleeding and dazed, Wagner was forced to do two 360-degree penalty turns before even crossing the starting line. And although the sophomore skipper turned in a gutty performance, the injury and penalty turns consigned the Crimson to a sixth place finish.

The Terriers finished first in the race, securing their hold on the overall title.

Wagner was bleeding behind the ear and somewhat disoriented when he returned to shore after the race. "His performance while injured is testimony that he could probably sail well unconscious," Kurland said.

Wagner was also the "low point skipper" of the regatta, meaning that he had both the lowest cumulative score and the best winning percentage of the 32 skippers.

"Although we didn't win, we're very pleased," Wagner said. "As sophomores, we're basically unknown, but this regatta gave us a lot of exposure nationwide."