Sailing Posts Top-10 Results in Weekend Regattas

The No. 8 Harvard coed sailing team raced in three regattas this weekend throughout New England. Despite top-10 finishes in the Hood and President Trophies, the Crimson was unable to qualify for nationals in the NEISA Men's Singlehanded Championship.

32nd PROFESSOR STEDMAN HOOD TROPHY

Harvard’s strongest performance this week came with the fourth place finish at the 32nd Hood Trophy hosted by Tufts University.

Junior co-captains Sydney Karnovsky and Andrew Mollerus took first place in the B division with 11 points. Senior Michael Drumm and freshman Kevin Coakley finished in 10th place for the A division.

Racing only took place on Sunday due to the lack of wind on Saturday.

“The wind was very unstable all weekend,” Drumm said. “This made racing very difficult to be consistent in, and the boats that got ahead early were able to stay ahead and separate from the other boats.”

No. 10 Tufts, Boston University, and No. 1 Yale took the top three spots in this regatta.

“[Mollerus] and [Karnovsky] did a great job of getting out in front early on in the racing,” Drumm said. “We were able to lead the fleet around the course in the 4 races we had, allowing them to win their division and help our team get 4th overall.”

The Crimson practiced on the Jumbos’ waters on Friday to prepare for the weekend and the different type of boat than what the squad typically sails in. Racing was done in Larks opposed to the frequently-sailed 420s or FJs.

“The four of us who raced at Tufts this weekend practiced at Tufts in larks on Friday and this was very helpful this weekend since we were a little more prepared than other schools who had never been in the larks,” Karnovsky said.

PRESIDENT’S TROPHY

Harvard finished in sixth place this weekend in the President’s Trophy hosted by Boston University. Also taking place in the Boston area, the stagnant wind conditions posed a challenge to racing. All races were canceled at two o’clock on Saturday.

The Crimson’s strongest performance came in the B division with junior Sophie Bermudez and senior Ashleigh Inglis taking fourth place with a score of 16, just six points behind the top finishing team from Brown.

Freshman Taylor Ladd and junior Kristina Jakobson tied for ninth place with Bowdoin College in the A division.

In the full results, the Bulldogs from New Haven, ranked No. 1 in the nation, took first place with a combined six points. The scoring level was low in this FJ in-conference regatta due to the lack of wind all weekend limiting the amount of races that took place.

NEW ENGLAND SINGLEHANDED CHAMPIONSHIP

Harvard faced its toughest results in the NEISA Men's Singlehanded Championship this weekend. The Crimson sent two sailors to race in this laser regatta but  neither finished in the top spots that would have qualified them for Nationals in November.

Junior Marek Zaleski finished in seventh place with 89 points. Teammate and sophomore Juan Perdomo finished in 10th place. Perdomo took third place at this regatta last fall as a freshman in his breakout performance.

22 sailors from 13 schools competed Saturday and Sunday. Once again, the weather proved to be a major challenge for all the teams.

“This weekend saw light winds across New England,” Mollerus said. “As a result, there were fewer than the scheduled number of races in our three regattas with many of these races being sailed in trying conditions.”

—Staff writer Tanner Skenderian can be reached at tskenderian@college.harvard.edu