In difficult conditions along the Atlantic coast, Yale sailors succeeded Saturday and Sunday with three top-three finishes in the Bulldogs’ first regattas of the year.
The women’s team finished second at the Toni Deustch Trophy at MIT, while the co-ed team placed third in the Yale-hosted Harry Anderson Trophy, first in the Harman Cup in Maine and seventh at the Mt. Hope Bay Invitational in Rhode Island.
The women’s team traveled to Boston to compete in an MIT-hosted event on the Charles River. Heather May ’13 and her skipper, Claire Dennis ’13, raced in the A division, while Genoa Warner ’12 and Stephanie Schuyler ’12 participated in the B division. After a mild Saturday, the combined efforts of the four put the Elis in third place, within striking distance of the second-place Coast Guard Academy. The Bulldogs took advantage of Sunday’s favorable conditions to finish the event in second place behind winner Brown, just one point ahead of the Coast Guard. This was the first event where the women’s team used the FJ boat after racing the same event in 420s last year.
“Saturday was like five to eight knots of breeze,” May said. “Sunday contained more random gusts of breeze, [which] gave us more opportunities to make gains. Each race on Sunday became more crucial.”
Dennis added: “It’s a great way to start off the season, and it bodes well for the rest of the year.”
On the Long Island Sound, hosts Yale finished third overall in the co-ed Harry Anderson Trophy. A division crew Joseph Morris ’12 and Elizabeth Brim ’11 and B division pair Cameron Cullman ’12 and Blair Belling ’11 led the team to third place with 73 points on a tricky first day of competition. On Sunday, the Bulldogs substituted Eugenia Custo Greig ’14 in for Belling and rotated Brim out for Rafael Fernandez ’13 on a day that presented sailors with a new set of weather conditions.
“Sunday was pretty breezy, so it was really fun,” Cullman said. “Big waves.”
The Bulldogs pushed through the big waves and breeze to finish with 136 points, good enough for third in a tournament that featured teams from all over the country.
“I love sailing at home because our venue is amazing,” Cullman said. “I felt pretty good, but I think I have a lot of room for improvement.”
In Castine, Maine, the team of Christopher Segerblom ’14, Rob Struckett ’12, Max Nickbarg ’14 and Amanda Salvesen ’14 captured first place in the Harman Cup, a regatta featuring four-person boats. After finishing third and second in the first two races, respectively, the group rolled off five straight wins to beat out Roger Williams and Tufts. The victory qualified the Bulldogs for the New England Match Racing Championship, to be held in two weeks at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
Members of the co-ed sailing team also finished seventh in the Mt. Hope Bay Invitational in Bristol, R.I. Andrew Kurzrok ’11 and Isabel Elliman ’13 finished seventh in the A division, while B division team Tatyana Camejo ’11 and Nathan Stevens ’13 produced the same result in the B division.
The Hatch Brown Trophy at MIT, the Lake Champlain Open in Vermont and the Boston Harbor Invitational at Boston College await the Elis next weekend.
Correction: Sept. 23, 2010
An earlier version of this article misstated the class year of Cameron Cullman ’12.