As fierce winds racked New England, Yale sailors avoided committing their competitors’ mistakes and fought back from early deficits to defend one title and grab two third-place finishes.

The No. 3 women’s team claimed first place in the Yale Women’s Intersectional for the second year in a row. The No. 3 coed team split up and placed third in the Captain Hurst Bowl at Dartmouth and third in the Tufts-hosted Lane Trophy.

At the McNay Family Sailing Center, twenty minutes from campus, the women sailors hoped to defend their Yale Women’s Intersectional title. After a delayed race start due to dangerously windy conditions, Skipper Claire Dennis ’13 and crew Heather May ’13 fought through 30-knot wind gusts and, unlike many of their competitors, avoided capsizing to grab a race win and five top fives.

Dennis and May finished with 37 points, fourth in the A division. In the B division Marlena Fauer ’14 and Eugenia Custo Greig ’14 completed the eight races to finish in first place with 32 points.

“[Fauer and I] were holding ourselves up to high standards,” Greig said. “I think that we expected to win.”

The Bulldogs bested eight of the top 10 women’s collegiate sailing teams, including No. 1 Brown, who finished second, and No. 2 Boston College, who finished third.

“We’re always going back and forth,” Greig said of Yale and the other top teams. “It’s nice to know that you’re up there and have some strengths over everyone else.”

The Bulldogs also fielded a second team of sailors including Genoa Warner ’12, Stephanie Schuyler ’12, Madeline Yozwiak ’14, Emily Billing ’13 and Senem Cilingiroglu ’13. The group finished ninth.

At the Captain Hurst Bowl on Lake Mancoma, A-division sailors Cameron Cullman ’13 and Elizabeth Brim ’11 started Saturday with an 11th place finish. However, Cullman and Brim rebounded with three race wins. Sunday morning began similarly with a disappointing 15th place finish, but Cullman and Brim again fought back to roll off three top-sixes. The pair ended the regatta in fourth place with 102 points.

“Whenever we had a bad race, we came back and had a better race,” Cullman said, ”It’s an extremely mental sport. We just try to take it one race at a time.”

B division skipper Chris Segerblom ’14 and crew Amanda Salvesen ’14 started with four top-threes and ended the competition in second place.

On Sunday, seven coed sailors made their way to Tufts for the Lane Trophy, a team racing circuit event featuring six colleges. In this double round robin format, three boats from each school races against three boats from another college. The school with the better cumulative finish of its three boats is declared the victor in that round.

Max Nickbarg ’14, Robert Struckett ’12 and Andrew Kurzrok ’11 each skippered a boat for the Bulldogs, who took third in the regatta.

“We haven’t sailed with the three skippers together,” Kurzrok said. “But I think we made some really quick gains in getting to know each other.”

Yale lost their first two matches to Boston University and the University of Vermont, but the Elis rebounded winning their next three. A loss to Boston College in the final race put both Yale and Boston College at a 6–4 draw for second; however, a tiebreaker relegated the Bulldogs to third place.

“Boston College has a history of being really good at team races,” Kurzrok said. “Unfortunately, they just dropped by us [in the last race.]”

Another set of sailors headed to Boston College for the Reid Trophy, but dangerous wind conditions forced the cancellation of the event.

Next week, the coed team sends two groups of sailors to Boston to compete in the Central Series at Boston College and the Oberg Trophy at MIT. The women’s team will make the short trip to New London, Conn. for the Stu Nelson Trophy.