Sailing Falters in Fall Finale

A week after impressive performances at the North American Singlehandeds, the Harvard sailing teams turned in mixed results in their final regattas of the fall, finishing second in the coed Atlantic Coast Dinghy Championship but placing a disappointing sixth at the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship.

In the latest Sailing World Poll Rankings, the Crimson coed squad maintained its customary top position, while the women’s team climbed four spots from sixth into second. The polls reflect Harvard’s strong showing at Singlehanded Nationals last weekend, particularly in the men’s division, where co-captain Clay Bischoff and freshman Vince Porter finished second and third.

Bischoff and junior Cardwell Potts were an integral part of Harvard’s success this past weekend, battling tricky tide conditions and shifting winds at the Coast Guard Academy to pilot Harvard to second-place finishes in both the A and B divisions of the Atlantic Coast Dinghy Championship. The Crimson finished second overall, placing behind St. Mary’s College in both divisions. Harvard finished strong, but could not overcome the deficit created when St. Mary’s won seven of the first eight races.

“We started to show improvement, but the deficit was just too much to overcome,” Bischoff said.

Bad luck was partly responsible for the women’s sixth-place finish. Among the incidents that plagued the women sailors was a broken jib lead, a mistimed start and a capsized boat after being fouled.

The difficult conditions that hampered Bischoff and Potts also affected the women—competing at Connecticut College—forcing them to adapt their pairings in addition to adapting to the weather.

“The conditions were pretty rough—it was cold and windy all weekend, especially on Sunday, and to compensate we sailed in heavy combinations that we don’t often practice,” junior Clemmie Everett said.

Freshman Genny Tulloch skippered the A-division boat, overcoming a poor first race to finish third.

In the B division, a rotating cast of characters including junior Jennie Philbrick, Everett, junior Diana Rodin and sophomore Laura Schubert combined for a 10th place result, finishing in first or second place in the last six races. Overall, the Crimson finished in sixth place, off their pace from recent weeks.

Despite a disappointing end to the fall season, Harvard is confident they can defend last year’s national championship this spring.

“I think the team performed fantastically this fall,” co-captain Michelle Yu said. “We had a lot of strong freshmen come in this fall, and I think it bodes well for the championships in the spring.”

-Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.