All Sailing Teams Finish in Top Three at ACCs

In three major regattas this weekend, the Harvard sailing teams performed well across the board.

The co-ed, women's, and freshman teams all competed in the Atlantic Coast Championships (ACCs) and sailed to third, second and third-place finishes, respectively.

The ACCs are a major event that provides closure to the fall sailing season, so team members said they were happy with the consistently good results, especially given the constantly-shifting conditions.

"We've showed so far that we as a team can adapt to anything," said sophomore Sean Doyle, who sails in co-ed B division. "It makes us feel good about how we're doing. As a team, I think we're so well-rounded, we don't have an ideal condition as opposed to other years. We tend to do the same in everything now, but some teams, like the mid-Atlantic schools, don't do as well when the wind is very shifty and fluky, whereas New England teams sail in that a lot. The top five schools were from New England, that's a direct result from that."

Dartmouth finished first and Tufts second in the event, which was held at MIT.

"Christian and I are both sailing well, where as for a lot of teams only one guy is," Doyle said.

The women's team finished second, behind B.U., in the regatta at Hobart/William Smith.

"We're definitely in contention to win, since we only lost by two points," sophomore Margaret Gill said. "It came down to the very end, so we were happy. Because all the strongest teams in the country are from the East Coast, we feel good on a national level."

The freshmen sailed at UNH, where the conditions were unsettled because the course is located in the mountains.

"It was hard to be consistent," said B-division skipper Dan Litchfield. "I guess what I'm most impressed with is how our team has gelled both as skipper and crews, where most of the crews came in completely inexperienced and are now some of the best on the East Coast."