Shifty winds and an unconventional course characterized this weekend’s Marchiando-Friis Team Race, hosted by MIT and Tufts in Cambridge, Mass.
The No. 3 Bulldog coed team, which won the event in 2007 and 2008, took third overall, despite posting the most wins during Saturday’s qualifying round of competition. The No. 2 Bulldog women’s team had a strong performance at BU’s President’s Trophy this weekend, finishing second despite cold and rainy conditions on the Charles River in Boston.
The coed team started off on Saturday in the qualifying round of competition. Although the Elis lost to St. Mary’s in the first round, they defeated them twice on Sunday — once in the final four and again in the sail-off. The MIT venue, located on the Charles River, featured a U-course during some of the races, a course that the Bulldogs had never sailed before.
“Unlike at Yale, where the wind is pretty calm, the wind tends to be unpredictable and challenging at Charles River,” Joseph Morris ’12 said.
Co-ed captain Thomas Barrows ’10 said that although the team was expecting to win first place, the results were not “too disappointing.”
“It was pretty tough competition,” Barrows said. “The conditions were really crazy.”
Other sailors at the race included Grace Becton ’09, Adriane Levin ’09, Michael Hession ’10, John Kempton ’10, Marla Menninger ’10 and Cameron Cullman ’12.
Team members said they were not too disappointed about the results, given that the team’s combination pairs are still relatively new.
“The team was pretty happy with the performance, considering it is a young team,” Morris said. “It basically gave us confidence going towards Nationals.”
On the women’s side, strong wind and bone-chilling conditions resulted in a lot of mayhem on the racecourse.
“It was very windy and very shifty,” Sarah Lihan ’10 said. “Some people flipped over.”
The women’s team sailed well on Saturday but had a few difficult races early Sunday morning. The Bulldogs were able to sail consistently and managed to avoid potentially race-ending situations on several occasions.
“We’ve been doing quite well this spring season, and we’ll continue with that,” Lihan added.
Racing for the women’s team resumes with the Emily Wick and Shrew Trophies on the Thames River in New London, Conn., on Saturday and Sunday. The co-ed team will sail at three regattas this weekend — the NE Dinghy Championships at Dorchester, Mass., the 70th Oberg Trophy in Boston and the Southern Series Five at Bristol, R.I.