Co-ed Sailing Finishes Second

The Harvard co-ed sailing team took home an impressive second place finish yesterday in the Hoyt Trophy regatta at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

The highlight of the weekend for the Crimson was the performance turned in by sophomore skipper Sean Doyle and freshman Michelle Yu. The duo captured first place in the B Division, finishing ahead of 15 competitors.

"We were sailing fast and making progress this weekend," said Doyle, who, along with fellow sophomore Margaret Gill, has already qualified to take part in the singlehanded nationals on November 5 in Newport, R.I.

In addition to the key performance turned in by Doyle and Yu, the Crimson also received solid showings from its two squads in the A Division. Senior co-captains Christian Taubman and Sarah Levin represented the Crimson on Saturday, while senior Jason Carroll and junior Kyung Byun competed together yesterday. Both crews fared decently enough over the course of the two days to ensure Harvard's place near the top of the field.

"The conditions were difficult and everyone was up and down," Doyle said. "We had some good races and some bad races."

Next weekend, the co-ed sailing team competes at MIT for the Schell Trophy.

The women's sailing team saw action this past weekend as well, competing for the Stu Nelson Trophy at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. At tournament's end yesterday, the Crimson found itself near the middle of the pack behind first-place finisher St. Mary's.

In the A Division, the Harvard tandem of senior All-American Lauren Toretta '00 and junior Alex Beale placed seventh out of 15 schools.

The team said that the performance did not meet its expectations, as it had hoped to finish as one of the top two New England-area teams in order to qualify for the Atlantic Coast Championships on Nov. 13.

"We had wanted to do better," said Toretta '00, captain of the women's team. "We needed to finish a couple spots higher to qualify."

Meanwhile, in the B Division, freshman skipper Clemmie Everett teamed with classmate Sarah Jessop. The twosome said it also failed to place as well as it had hoped going into the weekend.

"We were pretty inconsistent," Everett said. "Our boat-handling improved, but we made some mistakes that we shouldn't have made."

The Crimson will get another shot at qualifying for the Atlantic Coast Championships next weekend, when it competes at home for the Victorian Urn Trophy. Toretta, for one, said she remains optimistic about the team's chances.

"We stand a very good chance of qualifying," she said. "We'll have home-court advantage. Plus, we will be trying some new combinations with some different people sailing for us."