Harvard Finishes Ninth at Hatch Brown Trophy

Encountering strange weather for a September weekend in the Northeast, the Harvard sailing team faced problems launching off from the docks due to lack of wind and minor breezes and struggled to emulate the success of its strong opening weekend.

The coed squad competed at nearby MIT in the Hatch Brown Trophy regatta on the Charles River, finishing in the middle of the pack in ninth place. The women’s team traveled up to Dartmouth to race in the Mrs. Hurst Bowl intersectional, ending the weekend in 17th place.

“Conditions were really tricky,” co-captain Brendan Kopp said. “Usually we feel like we have a home field advantage on the Charles River, but the conditions were so wacky this weekend.”

The Crimson had to deal with unusual circumstances all weekend, first by sending out three boats to compete in an uncommon three-division format for the Hatch Brown Trophy.  In the Mrs. Hurst Bowl, the weather only permitted Harvard to finish four races in the two-day event, less than half the racing done in a typical regatta. Still, the Crimson gained experience in dealing with light winds and shaky weather.

“The wind was shifty and really up and down,” Kopp said. “The velocity was behaving in a way that was atypical, and this confused us, as it did all of the other teams.”

HATCH BROWN TROPHY

At the Hatch Brown Trophy, Harvard finished in ninth in the 18-team field.  While Kopp said the weather conditions could have been better, he and sophomore Sarah Pierson still managed to take home 11 top-10 finishes, ending the weekend in fifth place in the A-division.

“Kopp and Pierson continued to really solidify themselves as a really great combination for the team,” sophomore Caitlin Watson said. “They had a very solid weekend.”

In addition to Kopp and Pierson’s effort, the B-division trio of senior skipper Emily Lambert, freshman skipper Reid Bergsund, and senior crew Alexandra Jumper also notched 11 top-10 finishes, ending the weekend in 12th place.

Competing in C-division was the rookie pairing of freshmen Gram Slattery and Brian Drumm.  This regatta marked the first intersectional competition for both freshmen.

“These freshmen had only done college sailing for two weeks, and they did well,” Kopp said.

Recording eight top-10 finishes and ending the weekend with 162 points, Slattery and Drumm showed the young potential of the squad.

“We’re a young team right now because we graduated a lot of seniors last year,” Kopp said. “We are trying to put the newer kids in to sail against the best competition to allow them to improve the fastest.”

The Crimson finished the Hatch Brown Trophy regatta with 437 points, while the Cougars of the College of Charleston took first place with 297 points.

“Everyone did better on Sunday than on Saturday so that was a good trend,” Kopp said. “We have a big regatta next weekend for the co-ed team.”

MRS. HURST BOWL

The weekend affair at Mascoma Lake proved to be challenging for the Harvard sailing team, as it did for the other 19 teams that the Crimson competed against.  The weather was uncooperative, and numerous races were cancelled or abandoned. There was a light northerly breeze for a few hours, which allowed for some races to stay on schedule.

“The lack of wind was frustrating.” Watson said. “There were a limited amount of races and only four got off.  This did not give us enough time to rebound and do better as the regatta went on.”

In the A-division, sophomore skipper Morgan Russom and fellow classmate Isabel Ruane recorded 54 points after four races, while sophomore Caitlin Watson and freshman Emma Smith raced in the B-division, earning 51 points of their own.

On Saturday, only four races in each division were completed, as three races and one sequence were abandoned due to weather issues. Officials hoped for a better breeze on Sunday to facilitate more races, but the A-division only finished one race, while the sole B-division race was abandoned soon after it was started, at which time the day, and the regatta, was called.

Overall, Harvard ended the event with 105 points in 17th place.  The Lady Camels of Connecticut College finished in first place with 47 points.

While this was only the second weekend of regattas for the Crimson sailing squad, the team will use the performances and results to build and prepare for next weekend.

“This weekend definitely gave us some light wind experience,” Watson said. “We will improve at practice for the regattas ahead.”