Crimson Encounters Rough Waters

Competing this past weekend in both the 18th St. Mary’s Invitational and the Navy Women’s Intersectional, the Harvard sailing team was unable to replicate its success of two weekends ago, when the coed squad won the Sharpe Trophy Team Race.

This time the Crimson's coed team, sailing in the waters of St. Mary’s River, brought home third-place accolades, placing behind Boston College and Georgetown. Harvard's sailors went 17-4 in the 10-team competition, tying with the Hoyas and losing by one race to the Eagles.

Harvard’s team was composed of senior John Stokes, senior Alan Palmer, and senior Teddy Himler as skippers, and sophomore Alma Lafler, senior Quincy Bock, and senior Meghan Wareham served as the crew.

After the first round-robin competition on Saturday, the Crimson stood on top with Georgetown, with each boasting 8-1 records.

In the second round-robin, Harvard did not fare as well, going 6-3, yet the team still placed third overall, enough for a place in the championship round.

The Crimson won the next three races in the championship round but ultimately fell short to Boston College. Though Harvard tied with Georgetown, the Hoyas took second because it held the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, the women’s team was sailing along the waters near Navy, hoping to bring home some hardware in its first regatta of the spring season.

In the 18-team field, the Crimson took 10th at 338 points, finishing 181 points behind the champion—again, Boston College. The top four finishers included the Eagles, Brown, Yale, and Georgetown.

To start off the regatta, the A division sailed in the FJ’s while the B division competed in the 420s. After nine races, the A and B divisions switched fleets and raced one more time before the end of the first day of competition. Harvard ended the day with 185 points.

On Sunday, the Crimson sailed in eight more races to close out the event. It proved to be a tougher day.

“We were trying to be consistent and not being too fazed by the conditions. By middle of the day of Saturday and Sunday, it was a totally different mode to sail in. We were trying to be as good as we can be in the conditions,” junior Alex Jumper said.

“It was good practice to sail in different venues compared to the conditions at home," the A-division sailor added. "And we had to practice sailing smart. Saturday morning was not as windy. We’re focusing on different aspects of boat handling. Once it starts to get windier, we’re focusing on boat speed.”

In both divisions, Harvard had only one top-four finish in the 16 races on Sunday. At the end of the day, it tallied 153 points, landing the Crimson in the bottom half of the regatta.

“It was the first regatta of the season. Usually we are able to practice by the end of February or beginning of March. It was our first time in a boat together since the end of the fall season,” Jumper said. “There was a bit of a learning curve at first. There were pretty challenging conditions. Pretty windy and chilly. It was not a bad start, and we’re hoping to improve.”

Next weekend, the coed team and the women’s team will switch things up, competing for the 64th Truxton Umstead Trophy at Navy and at the 22nd Women’s Intersectional at St. Mary’s, respectively.