Harvard Follows the Wind, Posts Mixed Results

The Harvard sailing team took to the waters all over the East Coast this weekend, coming up with mixed results in three regattas.

The experienced sailors on the squad headed to Maryland, with the women’s team competing in the St. Mary’s Women’s Regatta and the co-ed team setting sail at the Truxtun Umsted Regatta.

The women found success in a very competitive field, with the A division team of junior captain Megan Watson and freshman Meghan Wareham leading the team to a fifth-place finish.

The co-ed squad placed ninth out of 20 teams at “The Trux,” held at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

“It’s probably the most competitive regular season regatta for fleet racing for the entire spring,” Watson said of the co-ed event.

Meanwhile, some of the Crimson’s more inexperienced sailors stayed in Cambridge to compete in the Central Series One regatta. The squad finished fourth in the field of 10.

ST. MARY’S WOMEN’S REGATTA

Watson and Wareham finished third in the A division to pace Harvard to a solid fifth-place finish at the St. Mary’s Women’s Regatta after a disappointing performance in the previous weekend.

“We got our confidence back to start moving forward,” Watson said.

Host St. Mary’s edged out Yale for the overall title.

The Crimson benefited from conditions very similar to those it faces in Cambridge.

“Saturday, the conditions were very light and shifty, similar to the conditions that we sail in the Charles,” Watson said. “I think that was a reason we did so well.”

The A division team set the tone with their second-place finish in the first race of the weekend, and claimed first in both the seventh and 11th races.

The solid performance came despite crew Wareham’s inexperience in the boat the pair sailed in.

“The boat handling was perfect by the end,” Watson said. “That was all Meghan.”

Sophomore skipper Liz Powers and freshman crew Quincy Bock sailed to a sixth-place overall finish in the B division after a slow Saturday.

“They got all the mistakes out of their system on Saturday and on Sunday did an amazing job,” Watson said.

The women’s team will look to build on the confidence and momentum generated from the regatta in the coming weeks.

“It’s one of the most competitive regattas. There were only 13 teams there, but every single one of them has a top women’s program,” Watson said. “Being able to finish third in the A division and fifth overall is really exciting.”

TRUXTUN UMSTED REGATTA

Harvard placed in the middle of the pack at the Trux, but the team suffered from a lack of time on the water so far this spring.

“From my perspective, it was pretty clear that some of the other teams from the Mid-Atlantic had already had their spring break trips and were performing better,” senior skipper Kyle Kovacs said. “I found myself making mistakes on the water.”

St. Mary’s was the regatta’s decisive winner.

Kovacs and senior crew Elyse Dolbec sailed to a fifth-place finish in the A division.

Three of the four teams to finish ahead of them were from the Mid-Atlantic.

The Crimson had to endure some unfamiliar conditions on the regatta’s second day.

“We had a whole range of conditions,” Kovacs said. “We had medium breeze and light air on Saturday, and then pretty heavy winds, which we’re not too used to seeing on the [Charles River], on Sunday.”

The B division team of junior captain and skipper Jon Garrity and junior crew Kerry Anne Bradford finished eighth. Freshman John Stokes sailed with Garrity on Sunday as a heavy-air crew.

Meanwhile, freshman Teddy Himler helmed his boat to an 11th-place finish in the C division.

Although there were some bright spots in the weekend, including a win and two second-place finishes for the A division pair among the regatta’s 18 races, Kovacs still sees a lot of room for improvement.

“It was a fine showing, but it highlighted the sort of things we need to work on in the future,” Kovacs said.

CENTRAL SERIES ONE

The freshman A division team of skipper Matt Donelan and crew Grace Charles recorded a third-place finish to lead Harvard to a fourth-place finish at the local-level Central Series One regatta.

The teams had to endure tough conditions, including gusty winds and sleet, which caused several boats to capsize.

But the Crimson remained consistent, and the A division pair recorded a win in one of Sunday’s four races.

Harvard was represented in the B division by a pair of sophomores, skipper Alex Bick and crew Ali Beyer. The pair sailed to a sixth-place finish.

Boston College’s first team ran away with the victory, and their unofficial second team would have placed second.

“It was just basically getting experience, so that more people could get to sail,” Charles said.

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.