Crimson Sails Ahead to Championships

Harvard hit the waters hard in Geneva, N.Y. last weekend, hoping to finish in the top nine at the ICSA Coed Dinghy National Semifinals and claim a spot at the National Championships in June. Despite poor conditions, the squad nabbed seventh with 112, finishing just behind Stanford.

“This weekend was really important,” senior Elyse Dolbec said. “It was really important for us to finish in the top nine. That was our main goal.”

According to junior Jon Garrity, this is the first year that the ICSA has held semifinals to deepen the field that makes it to Nationals, which elevated the importance of finishing in the top half.

“It was definitely a very competitive event,” Garrity said.

The Crimson also sent boats to closer regattas—the BU Trophy and the Geiger Trophy hosted by MIT—and saw mixed results. With 136 points, Harvard notched a fourth spot, just behind the host Boston University boat. And with 227 points, Harvard placed sixth of six teams down the river at MIT.

On tap next for the Crimson is the New England Team Race Championship in Providence, R.I. With the National Championships in Newport, R.I., next weekend’s regatta will give Harvard a glimpse into what the conditions will be like at Nationals.

ICSA COED DINGHY NATIONAL SEMIFINALS

The coed duo of Dolbec and classmate Kyle Kovacs surmounted the bad weather and continued a successful season, picking up a second place finish in the A-division with only eight races to do so.

“The weather didn’t really cooperate,” Dolbec said. “You only have a few races so you have to stay consistent.”

Discounting the thunderstorms that brewed up in the afternoon, the Crimson had to deal with conditions it usually doesn’t see on the Charles. According to Dolbec, the southerly breeze forced the squad to make some adjustments.

“I think we handled it well,” Dolbec said. “We did what we had to do.”

Kovacs anchored the skipper position through all eight races in the A-divison, while Garrity ran crew for the first two races before giving way to Dolbec.

“The past two years, I’ve gotten a lot of experience at crew,” Garrity said. “This year I’ve been trying to acquire the same experience as a skipper. I wanted to see the conditions and see how Kyle reacted.”

Garrity’s observations paid off, as he skippered the B-division boat in the four races on Saturday. But Sunday’s races were Harvard’s defining moments. In the A-divison, Kovacs and Dolbec—after capping Saturday with a first-place finish in the sixth race—managed second and fifth-place finishes for second in the division.

Meanwhile, freshmen Alan Palmer and Quincy Bock finished second and seventh in the B-division’s final two races on Sunday to notch a nine-place berth.

BU TROPHY

Sophomore skipper Liz Powers and rookie Grace Charles charted the A-division boat to a sixth place finish in the BU Trophy regatta. And with freshman Matt Donelan and sophomore Drew Robb splitting time at skipper and sophomore Michelle Konstadt at crew of the B-division boat, the Harvard contingent took home fourth in the regatta.

The A-division boat claimed the top spot in the penultimate race, while the B-division claimed first in the seventh, ninth, and 10th races. Notching an additional three second-place finishes, the B-division trio made an easy case for the second-place overall finish and was just one point off the B-division winning University of Rhode Island.

GEIGER TROPHY

The younger Harvard sailors got some additional experience this weekend at the Geiger Trophy regatta at MIT, with Robb at the 420, freshman Nick Ray at the FJ, classmate Pat Brennan at the single tech, and sophomores Alex Bick and Kate Harris at the double tech. The team logged 227 points, placing last in the regatta.

But according to Garrity, the Geiger Cup “has a history of being a more light-hearted event.”

In fact, the Tufts team raced dressed as Noah’s Ark and MIT as “imaginary” characters, such as the Easter Bunny, a leprechaun, and the imaginary number “i.”

—Staff writer Dixon McPhillips can be reached at fmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.