The Bulldogs’ promising season moved along at a steady pace this weekend both at home and at the Coast Guard Academy.

In the New England Singlehanded Championships hosted at Yale on Saturday and Sunday, Eli Captain Thomas Barrows ’10 took third place with 43 points in 11 races. The regatta placement qualified him for the ICSA National Singlehanded Championships, scheduled for Oct. 24-26 at Cornell.

Light winds began both days at the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, Barrows said, but the soft breeze picked up as each day progressed. Currents remained strong throughout the weekend and made handling the small boats challenging.

The field, however, was skilled enough to handle the tough conditions. Out of the 33 racers, 10 people were seriously in contention for the four spots to qualify for nationals, Barrows said.

Despite a slower start at the regatta, Barrows managed to overcome his wishful opponents in his quest to the nationals.

“The first day I was a little too conservative and wasn’t really trying to win,” he said. “I was then trying not to lose. Sunday I was able to be a little bit more aggressive and win some more races and move up a little bit in the standings.”

The strategy evidently worked.

Last year, Barrows won the ICSA Singlehanded Championship. In the same boat class, the laser class, Barrows took 21st at the 2008 Bejiing Olympic Games.

Also competing at the McNay Family Sailing Center was Cameron Cullman ’12. He accumulated 107 points for a seventh place finish overall. In four of the 11 races, Cullman finished in the top five of the 33 competing boats.

At Coast Guard, Rebecca Jackson ’10, Maria Menninger ’10, Michael Hession ’10, Andrew Kurzrok ’11, Blair Belling ’11 and Rob Struckett ’12 placed 10th as a team at the Hap Moore Team Race. They won four out of 14 races.

Brown, Boston University, SUNY Maritime Academy and the Coast Guard Academy were also in attendance at the regatta.

Next weekend the Elis will travel to the Navy Fall Intersectional in Annapolis, Md., the Captain Hurst Bowl Intersectional at Dartmouth and the Great Herring Pond Open at Massachusetts Maritime Academy.