Harvard Enjoys Lighter Load Amidst Busy Season

The holiday weekend provided some much-needed rest for many Harvard students, but for the Harvard sailing team, the three-day respite was especially welcome.

For the first and only time during its fall season, the Crimson sailors competed in only one regatta during a weekend, and the co-ed squad had a four-man contingent place third overall at the Moody Trophy in Wakefield, R.I.

The lighter workload and successful showing could not have come at a better time for the Harvard team, as this weekend marked the halfway point of what has so far been a rather disappointing fall campaign.

“The fall season is important because how we do in the fall determines what regattas we are able to attend this upcoming spring and next fall,” junior captain Alan Palmer said. “We got off to a pretty slow start this season, but we are looking to move up the rankings substantially over the next couple of weeks, and our performance this weekend will definitely help.”

Senior Michelle Konstadt also noted the encouraging results obtained by the Crimson, a squad that has dealt with its fair share of injuries and team members studying abroad so far this season.

“This weekend’s regatta might not have been the most competitive,” Konstadt said, “but it was the first time this season that both divisions really sailed well and were able to finish strong. We were pleased with our results this weekend.”

In the A division of racing, Palmer teamed up with classmate Grace Charles, who handled the crewing duties, to place fourth among the 17 teams competing in that division.

The duo claimed two victories on the weekend and finished in the top half in five of the 14 competitions. Four points is all that separated the Harvard pair from the Roger Williams squad that claimed top honors in the top division of racing.

The B division saw the emergence of sophomore skipper Brendan Kopp, who teamed up with his crew Konstadt to take home third place in the division. The duo opened with consecutive runner-up efforts and six top-five finishes in its first seven races, helping place it atop the B-divisional standings and giving the Crimson the Day 1 lead after Saturday’s competitions.

The pair faltered slightly on Day 2 but only finished outside the top half of the 17-member field three times in 14 races on the weekend.

“We were really happy with how Brendan performed this weekend,” Konstadt said.

“He was injured last year, so it was nice to get him some experience. He was able to handle the wind shifts really well, especially on the first day.”

Despite Harvard’s fall from first place after Day 1, the squad will still look to gain confidence from this weekend’s results and build on the momentum from this weekend throughout the remainder of its fall schedule.

“Unfortunately, the second day was very windy, and we had no extra crews, so we were at a bit of a disadvantage not being able to switch out crews and change up our lineup,” Palmer said. “But this weekend is a good sign of things to come for the rest of fall.”

—Staff writer Thomas D. Hutchison can be reached at tdhutch@fas.harvard.edu.