As the championship season draws nearer, the Yale coed and women’s sailing teams cruised toward success this weekend with another top finish for the coed squad and a fifth place finish for the women’s team. The Bulldogs have also found new wind in their sails, as the coed team recaptured its spot as the top team in the country and the women’s team claimed No. 1 in the national rankings by Sailing World as well.

The sailors noted that while the No. 1 ranking serves as a testament to their dedication, it will not impact how they prepare for the 2015 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association nationals, which are in Newport, Rhode Island from May 25 until June 4.

“It is such a privilege to be on a No. 1 ranked team in college sailing,” Sanam Rastegar ’16 said. “It really shows how much talent we have on our team and how hard we work to keep ourselves at the top … but I think it is really important for us to not lose sight of our goals even when ranked No. 1.”

Over the weekend, the women’s team traveled to Rhode Island to compete in the Dellenbaugh Women’s Trophy hosted by Brown. Sailing for Yale were skippers Morgan Kiss ’15 and Marly Isler ’16, as well as crews Emily Johnson ’16, Natalya Doris ’17 and Claire Huebner ’18. The team finished fifth out of 18 schools, just edging ahead of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

On Saturday, the winds were strong enough that racing had to be cut short, but the conditions calmed down enough at the regatta on Sunday to allow Brown to claim the win. The A Division sailors, consisting of Kiss and Johnson, finished fifth overall with 48 points, while the B Division team, which consisted of Isler, Doris and Huebner, finished fourth with 40 points. The fifth place finish was a combination of the two teams’ scores.

Meanwhile the coed team headed to Boston to compete in both the Boston University Trophy at Boston University and the Marchiando Team Race at MIT. The Bulldogs sailed to their fifth consecutive win at MIT, finishing with a record of 13–2 and edging out archrival Harvard. The delegation from Yale included skippers Graham Landy ’15, Ian Barrows ’17 and Malcolm Lamphere ’18, along with crews Katherine Gaumond ’15, Charlotte Belling ’16 and Christopher Champa ’18.

Just like the women’s squad, the Elis competing in Boston had to deal with tough weather conditions.

“This weekend … was about as windy as it gets in college sailing,” Belling said. “Given the challenging conditions, it was important to use speed and boat handling to stay upright and respond to sudden changes in velocity and wind direction. The Charles [River] can be really variable and frustrating, and I was impressed by our team’s ability to respond to changes and communicate well on and off the water.”

Another delegation consisting of skippers Casey Klingler ’18 and Eric Anderson ’16 and crews Isabelle Rossi de Leon ’17 and Amelia Dobronyi ’17 finished eighth out of 16 teams at the BU Trophy. Anderson and Dobronyi sailed in the A Division and finished with 35 points, while Klingler and Rossi de Leon finished with 14 points, second among B Division squads.

“BU was a bit too windy for me and Casey … most schools had much heavier coed teams,” Rossi de Leon said. “It is nearly impossible to sail fast in those conditions with our weight combo … However, we sailed well and ended up a close second in our division.”

In the open coaches poll to determine the Sailing World’s College Rankings, 17 out of 19 coaches voted the Yale coed team to be ranked No. 1 and 12 out of 17 coaches voted for the women’s team as the top squad as well. Additionally, Doris and Isler were named New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association sailors of the week for their performance at the Duplin Regatta last week.

The coed team heads to the Fowle Trophy and the Mystic Lake Team Race Invitational next weekend while the women’s team is staying in Connecticut for the Emily Wick Trophy.