The No. 2 sailing team had a frustrating weekend, placing 10th and 11th at two intersectional regattas and 14th at a New England event while some of its top sailors remained at Yale for a team racing practice.

The Elis placed 11th of 18 in the 76th Annual Boston Dinghy Cup held by Boston University, Harvard and MIT on the Charles River. The regatta was comprised of four division with 17 races each held throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Molly Carapiet ’06 and crews Giovanni Zevi ’07 and Jenn Hoyle ’05 earned sixth in the A division, while other Eli teams placed ninth, 11th, and 14th in the B, C, and D divisions, respectively.

Skipper Emily Hill ’07, who sailed in the C division, said there were several factors that made the regatta more difficult than usual.

“We sailed techs and larks in two divisions, which are both boats we don’t normally sail,” she said. “Also, the wind was shifty and puffy which made the conditions challenging.”

The Bulldogs earned 10th of 13 at the Duplin Women’s Trophy regatta, hosted by Tufts, with crews placing 11th and 10th in the A and B divisions, respectively.

Those racing in the Duplin also struggled with difficult wind and water conditions as well as unfamiliar boats, skipper Kendra Emhiser ’07, who sailed in the A division, said.

“For a team that was less experienced in general, the conditions were extremely difficult,” she said. “[They were] different than any conditions we have had at Yale.”

The Elis also competed in an exclusively New England event in which they placed 14th out of 18 schools.

Emhiser said the lower finishes, compared to the four first places and two second places earned by the Elis last weekend, resulted from the fact that many of Yale’s top sailors, including All-American Stu McNay ’05, Zach Brown ’08 and captain Matt Barry ’07 and their crews remained at Yale for the weekend.

“We knew it was going to be a very difficult weekend because we were sending teams to regattas at levels above where they generally compete,” Emhiser said. “We are a team that is used to doing better than we did this weekend. It was sort of frustrating for people, but … it was a learning experience for everybody.”

At Yale, the sailors who did not compete this weekend practiced instead with members of the top two post-collegiate team racing squads in the United States as well as an undergraduate team from St. Mary’s.

Team racing, which the Bulldogs have decided to focus on this year in addition to their usual goals, is a less common version of collegiate fleet racing in which schools send three boats each that compete in single or double round-robin races.

The two teams, Wishbone and Silver Panda, agreed to come to Yale for a practice because the Elis’ head coach, Zack Leonard, will be coaching them for the upcoming team racing world championships.

McNay said the practice was both exciting and helpful in developing the Bulldogs’ team racing skills.

“It was an honor to be able to sail against these top two teams,” McNay said. “Not only did we have good practice racing against them, but we also had briefing session with them afterwards [in which] they shared a lot of knowledge that they have accumulated throughout their years of team racing.”

McNay said the Elis are looking forward to hosting the Ted Ferrarone Team Race, a major varsity intersectional, at Yale next weekend.

“This weekend was great practice, and I think we can do quite well this coming weekend,” he said. “We have lots of good things to look forward to.”