Sailing Teams Continue Spring Prep

It was another busy weekend for the Harvard sailing teams as they traveled from Massachusetts snow to Maryland sun to continue their preparation for spring training.

The co-ed team was in action at the U.S. Naval Academy for the Trux Umsted Intersectional, where it captured a respectable sixth place out of a field of twenty. Most impressive was Harvard's status as the top team in the Northeastern conference.

Crimson sailors turned in solid performances across the board in Annapolis. The successful fall season combination of co-ed captain Sean Doyle and freshman Michelle Yu struck gold again this season, as the duo sailed to a third-place finish in the B Division behind regatta winners St. Mary's and Hobart.

Freshman Clay Bischoff sailed his Laser to a fourth-place finish in the C Division.

"It was some of the toughest competition I've faced so far this year," Bischoff said. "Big mistakes were costly, but consistency paid off."

Last year's co-captains, seniors Sarah Levin and Christian Taubman, finished sixth in A Dvision.

"Trux is probably the hardest regatta of the spring," Taubman said. "We're a fairly young team and we have only just been able to start spring practices, so we know we will improve as the season progresses."

The women's team competed this weekend at the St. Mary's Women's Intersectional, finishing fourteenth overall among eighteen teams. Trying out some new skipper/crew combinations in shifty winds, the Crimson struggled to put together a solid set of races.

Senior Lauren Toretta and captain Alex Beale sailed in A Division, placing in the top five of three of their fourteen races. Freshman duo Clemmie Everett and Laura Knoll sailed in B Division.

"As a whole, we were somewhat frustrated with our performance, since it felt like we had lots of good pieces of races," Everett said. "The team will only improve from here."

Spring break will be a valuable opportunity for both teams to prepare for the rest of the busy season.

"I think these regattas served as a barometer for the Harvard teams by allowing us to assess our strengths and weaknesses as we start preparing for Nationals," Bischoff said.

It will be a busy "break" for the teams. This Saturday, the co-ed team will compete in the Owen Trophy at Yale, the SNE Team Race at Connecticut College, and the Sloop Invitational at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

The women's team will try to hold on to its first-place ranking as it competes for the President's Trophy at Boston University.