The Yale sailing team competed in five regattas this past weekend, including events at Yale, Boston University, Connecticut College, Dartmouth, and the Coast Guard Academy.

Yale hosted the Southern Series Sept. 28, where sunshine and shifting winds offered a challenging backdrop for the day’s competition. The Yale team finished third after competing in nine races. Benoit Bewley ’05 and Kathleen Ann Baker ’05 led the host Yale squad, finishing third behind Connecticut College and Brown in the A Division. Baker is a Yale Daily News staff reporter.

Heavy winds delayed the start of the Women’s President’s Trophy regatta at Boston University, and when the Bulldogs finally took the water they finished ninth overall out of 14 competing colleges. Teammates Grace McGeoch ’04 and Jessica Miller ’04 led the Elis with a sixth-place finish in the A Division.

The Connecticut College regatta featured 23 laser sailors. Yale’s top two laser sailors, Stu McNay ’04 and Brandon Wall ’03, finished seventh and ninth, respectively. The regatta was Wall’s fourth for the Elis since he returned from a year of study in China. Harvard finished first, second and 12th in the regatta after recovering from a broken laser trailer axle on the way from Boston.

While McNay and Wall competed at Connecticut College Sept. 28, Dartmouth hosted the Single Eliminations Regatta the same day. Mike Renda ’04 struggled in Hanover, managing no better than an eighth-place finish in any of the racing rounds. Renda finished 14th overall in the regatta out of 14 boats, failing to qualify for the Single Elimination New England Championships. Tufts finished in first and second, advancing to the regional championships.

At the Sloop Eliminations Sept. 28, Yale finished fifth out of 10 teams. Sailing in three-person keelboats, teammates Dana Worth ’03, Derek Keil ’03 and commodore George Malcolmson ’03 led the Elis to finish in third and fifth place in the final two rounds of racing to push the Bulldogs into fifth overall. The top seven boats qualified for the New England Championships.

This weekend, members of the sailing team will travel to MIT, Boston University, and the Coast Guard Academy in addition to hosting the Freshman Invite Four Regatta on Oct. 6. Despite their mixed results from the weekend, the Bulldogs remain optimistic about their chances this year on the water.

“So far, we’ve been figuring out what works best for us as a team,” Laura Brenner ’05 said. “Hopefully things will come together this weekend.”