Kovacs Cruises in Singlehanded Regatta

In a sport that often hinges on the teamwork of a skipper and his crew, last weekend showed that sometimes it’s a single hand that lends itself to the most success.

Harvard co-ed sailing captain Kyle Kovacs proved as much on Saturday and Sunday in Boston, battling to a first-place finish at the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s Singlehanded Championships. The win qualified the senior for the singlehanded national in November.

The rest of the No. 5 co-eds and the No. 4 women’s team were also in action this weekend, sailing to a pair of sixth-place finishes and a fourth-place showing at a slate of regattas up and down the East Coast.
“I’m very excited,” Kovacs said of his win. “It was pretty nerve-wracking, but I’m glad it worked out.”

NEW ENGLAND MEN’S SINGLEHANDED CHAMPIONSHIP

Kovacs was joined at the competition by a pair of Crimson teammates, freshman Teddy Himler and sophomore Drew Robb. With the top four performers getting invitations to nationals, Himler and Robb were looking to perform a feat not seen since Clay Johnson ’07 took first place and qualified for nationals as a sophomore.

And though both stayed in contention for one of the coveted top four spots until late in the regatta, both Himler and Robb came up short, finishing in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

“It was a heartbreaker for Teddy,” Kovacs said. “I can relate, having just missed my sophomore year. It was really difficult to watch, because I was sort of keeping an eye on them the whole time.”

Himler finished just 12 points behind the last qualifier, Andrew Criezis of Tufts, while Robb was just a single point behind Himler in seventh.

“They both sailed really well at times, but they had one too many things go against them, and it’s really difficult in the qualifier,” Kovacs said. “All it takes is one bad race to knock you out.”

It was Kovacs who sailed away with the lowest point-total, however. He tallied just 44 points in the 12 races, narrowly beating Thomas Barrows of Yale in the final race to take the top spot.

“It came down to the last race, and there were definitely moments where he was beating me,” Kovacs said. “I saw a whole range of conditions, which I think was good for me, because I’m not necessarily the best in any specific conditions, but I can do well in most them.”

The performance for Kovacs comes 11 months after he and Johnson took fourth and third place, respectively, at nationals. He said that it was his disappointing performance last fall that fueled his run towards making it to the competition again as a senior.

“After coming so close last year, it was definitely a goal of mine, to make it there and be in contention at nationals again,” Kovacs said. “Hopefully this year I’ll be able to finish it out.”

Boston College’s Reed Johnson took third place, while Tufts sophomore Tomas Hornos just missed qualifying in fifth place.

HAP MOORE TROPHY

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy hosted the Hap Moore Trophy, a team race consisting of 12 schools. Harvard won half of its races at the two-day event, finishing in fourth place overall. A total of six Crimson sailors competed at the event. Junior skipper Jon Garrity headlined the event along with senior crew Elyse Dolbec, while freshmen Alan Palmer and John Stokes also competed. Junior Kerry Anne Bradford and sophomore Michelle Konstadt rounded out the competitors.

NAVY WOMEN’S INTERSECTIONAL

Harvard was at the US Naval Academy on Saturday and Sunday for the Navy Women’s Intersectional, which saw the Crimson take sixth place overall.

In A-division, junior skipper Roberta Steele sailed with junior crew Lauren Brants, leading Harvard to a tenth-place finish. The B-division tandem of sophomore skipper Liz Powers and freshman crew Meghan Waraham fare slightly better, taking seventh, while women’s captain Megan Watson took second place in the singlehanded C-division.

“We did pretty well as a team,” Powers said. “The conditions were pretty challenging the whole weekend, because they were light and choppy, and there’s never really chop on the Charles River, so we’re not used to practicing in that.”

Watson’s second-place showing in C-division was particularly encouraging for the team, as Watson usually sails in two-person boats.
“Megan did really well, and we were really happy with her performance,” Powers said. “Everyone was pretty up and down, but things averaged out in the end.”

CENTRAL SERIES FOUR

Tufts was the site of the fourth Central Series, and the host team won easily in the nine-team field. The Crimson took sixth place, with a combination of sophomore James Fish, freshman Grace Charles and freshman Quincy Bok sailing in a tenth-place A-division. Freshman skipper Matthias Donelan and sophomore crew Ali Bayer took 14th place in B-division.

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.