Sailing Team Competes at Nationals, Local Events

It was a busy and characteristically successful weekend for the Harvard sailing team.

In the most important competition of the weekend, sophomores Sean Doyle and Margaret Dill finished third and fifth, respectively, at the single-handed national championships in Newport, R.I.

The team finished fourth overall in the Horn Trophy at Harvard in an event named for Harvard's former sailing coach Mike Horn.

The team also sent two boats down the river to compete at a small regatta hosted by MIT. One of the boats finished second, the other placed fifth.

Doyle's third-place finish placed him above all other competitors from the US. He placed behind two sailors that compete on the Olympic circuit in Canada.

Although the Canadians were well ahead of Doyle, he battled for third place with a good friend of his from St. Petersburg, Fla., Brad Funk from Old Dominion. It came down to the last race between the two Americans, which Doyle won by two points.

"It was like the Floridians versus the Canadians," he said.

Gill, who finished first at nationals last year, struggled in the weekend's rough winds and said her relatively small size was an obstacle against her performance.

"Because I'm smaller than most of the other girls, size makes a difference," she said. "The bigger you are, the faster you can go. So when you're smaller it's harder, but I managed to hang okay."

This weekend's winds, which reached up to 25 knots at times, made it difficult for lightweight sailors to control their vessels.

"You need to be really big to sail [tough winds] fast," co-captain Sarah Levin said. "It's awesome that Margaret ended up fifth."

Although overshadowed by the nationals, the Horn Trophy was a good opportunity for many on the team to relax in a race of minor importance.

Because Horn Trophy rules require at least one boat with a woman skipper for each school, Levin was forced to assume the role of skipper, a role she has never taken in a regatta before.

"I'm not a skipper at all," she joked. "We were a total disaster. I'm surprised we didn't kill anyone."

The team placed fourth overall and enjoyed a chance to sail in its own backyard.

"I think everyone just had a lot of fun," Levin said.

The two boats that competed at the MIT regatta also enjoyed a relaxing weekend close to home. They had to deal with the rough winds that regularly plague the Charles River, however.

"On the Charles, the wind is always kind of shifty, so we had some unexpected events happen during the race," said freshman racer Michelle Yu. "Unexpected on the Charles is normal on the Charles."

Next week, the team heads down to the Atlantic Coast Championships in what Levin calls one of the premiere events of the season.

"There aren't that many good teams that aren't East Coast teams, so all the good teams are at the Atlantic Coast Championships. It's the big fall regatta," she said.

Next weekend's event will be the final event of the team's fall before they head into the winter off-season.

Co-ed races will be held down the river at MIT, on the same course at which Harvard won the Schell Trophy just a few weeks ago. Women travel to Hobart College in northern New York, and the freshman Atlantic Coast Championships are at the University of New Hampshire.