Women Grab First Place on Charles River

Like many students on campus, the Harvard sailing team is realizing just how quickly the end of the semester is approaching with this year’s new calendar system in place. However, just as yesterday’s clear skies and warm weather provided students with a respite before winter weather and finals season, the Crimson competed in its one and only weekend of fall team racing before next weekend’s fleet-style Atlantic Coast Championships.

The team race format provided Harvard sailors with a preview of what is to come during the spring season and added some confidence heading into next weekend’s fleet championship regattas.

The Crimson’s women’s team claimed its first team victory of the year, winning the Michael Horn Trophy Team Race. A Harvard co-ed contingent did not fare quite as well but still found success at the Hap Moore Team Race, finishing sixth against stingy competition.

“This was our first team race of the season and we made some mistakes,” senior Michelle Konstadt said. “But this weekend also showed us we have a lot of potential and room to improve during the spring season in the team race format.”

HORN TROPHY TEAM RACE

The Horn Trophy Team Race provided the women’s squad with the rare opportunity to sail in a team race format, as at least two skippers had to be women in this regatta. The Crimson, who hosted the event, edged out Vermont on Sunday to claim the team title.

“It was great being at Harvard to take part in a unique style of racing for the women’s team,” sophomore Alex Jumper said. “We had to deal with the typical Charles conditions, which were very shifty winds and big wind velocity changes.”

The victorious Crimson squad consisted of captain Liz Powers skippering the first boat, with senior Marie Appel taking care of the crewing duties. Jumper, who was the crew for the second boat, accompanied sophomore skipper Emily Lambert. The final Harvard pairing was junior skipper Colin Santangelo and freshman crew Sarah McCuskee.

“We had to play with and capitalize on the breeze conditions in order to succeed,” Jumper said.

While the Crimson’s success this past weekend is a good sign of things to come during the spring season, next weekend’s championship fleet racing will still prove to be quite a challenge, as the Harvard women travel to Brown to compete among the best teams on the east coast.

“Sailing at Brown is typically pretty breezy with more open water conditions,” Jumper said. “We are excited to compete next weekend, as that regatta will be the culmination of all of our racing so far this season.”

HAP MOORE TEAM RACE

The co-ed squad traveled a bit farther than its female counterpart, as Harvard competed at the Hap Moore Trophy hosted by Boston College and brought home a sixth place team finish.

The Crimson lineup included skippers junior captain Alan Palmer, junior Teddy Himler, and sophomore Brendan Kopp. Junior Grace Charles, sophomore Annie DeAngelo, and Konstadt took care of the crewing duties in the team race style of racing, which will be contested much more frequently in the spring.

“We will study in classroom sessions over the winter to prepare for team racing in the spring,” Konstadt said. “So hopefully we will be able to improve by then. Our coach is great at teaching us different team racing situations, so I think we will be more prepared come the spring.”

While this weekend of team racing did provide a glimpse of what is to come in a few months, the co-ed squad’s thoughts remain on next weekend’s big race and finishing up its fall campaign on a high note.

“We will be competing at Harvard next weekend in conditions that we are used to,” Konstadt said. “So it will pretty much be the best [Atlantic Coast Championships] that we could ask for.”

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