YaleAthletics
Stretched thin across four separate venues, the No. 2 Yale coed sailing team concluded the weekend with several strong showings, dominating the rest of the field at the Captain Hurst Trophy and coming in second in two team races. Also in action at the major interconference regatta, the No. 1 Yale women’s squad struggled to defend home waters, finishing fourth out of 18 teams at the Yale Women’s.
Sailing in New Hampshire under calm winds that grew stronger throughout the weekend, the Elis took home the Captain Hurst Trophy after beating the field by a wide margin. Besting second-place Dartmouth by a stunning 39 points at the Big Green’s own tournament, the Bulldogs walked away with sailors finishing in the top four in all three divisions.
“Our team worked so well together this weekend by communicating much more than usual about conditions and the competition,” crew Sonia Lingos-Utley ’21 said. “[Skipper] Malcolm [Lamphere ’20] and I raced together, and I couldn’t be happier with how the second day of racing went.”
In Division A, skipper Nic Baird ’19 and crew Graceann Nicolosi ’20 came in fourth, just one point shy of third. Meanwhile in Division B, Lamphere and Lingos-Utley rocketed to a 15-point victory while Division C competitors skipper Nick Hernandez ’19 and crew Caroline Colwell ’18 secured a first-place finish as well.
“We sailed a lot more consistently than other teams, which helped us win the regatta,” Nicolosi said. “Our team has been working a lot on starting and boat handling and it definitely paid off.”
Yale was also set to compete in the PC Invite in Providence, R.I. However, due to a miscommunication, the Bulldogs did not bring enough sailors to the competition, which required two divisions, ultimately leading to their disqualification. Skipper Adam Wolnikowski ’21 said the team was disappointed by the disqualification but pleased by the performance of one of its youngest competitors, skipper Jonathan Schwartz ’21, who made his collegiate debut at the regatta.
While the fall season primarily focuses on fleet racing, the coed sailing team took advantage of the team races in Boston to warm up for the spring. The Norman Reid Team Race and the Franklin Lane Trophy — hosted by Boston College and Tufts University, respectively — gave the young roster the opportunity to navigate inconsistent wind patterns and unpredictable shifts.
“Conditions were challenging for the first day of racing at BC,” crew KB Knapp ’18 said. “We did a lot of waiting both on and off the water for the wind to fill in.”
Dismal, drizzly weather with virtually no accompanying breeze at Norman Reid forced the sailors to cancel several races. It took until late in the afternoon for competition to resume, allowing for a single round robin with a field of six boats to take place rather than the typical two rounds.
At the end of the day, the Bulldogs finished second to the host Eagles. Going head to head, Boston College capitalized when Yale sailors lost track of their spacing on the course for the downwind leg, giving up an early advantage after a winning combination coming off of the rounding mark.
The same group of Knapp, skippers Dylan DiMarchi ’20 and Christine Klingler ’20 and crews Nicholas Marwell ’21, Becca Rose ’21 and Emery Wallace ’21 raced the following day for the Franklin Lane Trophy. A more difficult Tufts course called for quick adjustments to shifty wind patterns and wind puffs.
“Tufts is a tricky venue in that you really need to focus on team racing strategy as well as keeping your head out of the boat for sudden shifts,” Knapp said. “The determining race for the win was our last one against Roger Williams, and unfortunately there was an extremely large shift on the first leg that we missed.”
Despite finishing the day with three losses, the Elis finished second, relying on strong performances from the first years.
The women’s team struggled at the weekend’s home regatta, finishing 67 points behind the Coast Guard Academy, which took first in the event. Once again, unfavorable weather and dying breezes cut morning races short and only a total of five races ran to completion.
Skipper Casey Klingler ’18 and crew Claudia Loiacono ’21 placed 10th out of 18 teams in the A Division while skipper Louisa Nordstrom ’20 and crew Cate Mollerus ’21 finished third in the B Division.
The Bulldogs will look to rebound at the women’s equivalent of the Captain Hurst Trophy. Dartmouth will host the Mrs. Hurst Trophy in two weeks. The coed team sails on Oct. 21–22 for the Hoyt and Oberg Trophies.
Julianna Lai | julianna.lai@yale.edu
Alex Reedy | alex.reedy@yale.edu