As weather begins to warm the coastal waters of Connecticut, the coed and women’s sailing teams’ seasons are also heating up. The Bulldogs raced in four different regattas up and down the Atlantic seaboard this weekend, which included a first-place victory for Yale at the Dellenbaugh Women’s Trophy on the Providence River.
The women’s team raced against formidable opponents to open the weekend, sailing ahead of top-tier squads such as No. 2 Brown and No. 8 Harvard, who earned second and third place, respectively, behind the Bulldogs. The victory came on the heels of first-place performances at both the St. Mary’s Women’s InterConference and Navy Spring Women’s regattas. Despite battling tempestuous winds, Yale still finished in the top 10 in 26 out of 28 races and secured first place by a respectable 67 points at Brown.
“There was a variety of challenging conditions, ranging from extremely shifty and puffy to steady and consistent,” Louisa Nordstrom ’20 said. “I’m really happy with everyone’s performance, especially our crews, and the improvement we have seen as a team throughout the season. I’m hoping we continue to make progress in the lead up towards Nationals.”
The lone women’s race split teams into A and B divisions and Yale’s two squads earned 61 and 53 points, respectively. As sailing is a lowest-sum sport, the Elis obliterated second-place Brown, which ended the day with 78 points for its A team and 103 for its B team. While Boston University came within five points of Yale’s A-team, the Terriers stumbled in B division, splashing back to shore in fifth place overall.
Meanwhile, the coed team traveled to MIT, where the first team vied for the 38th Lynne Marchiando Interconference Trophy and ended the day in seventh place (tying for sixth) with a 13 – 9 record. While the first team earned the top spot in its last two regattas, formidable opponents like Harvard and Boston College stepped up their game this past weekend, with the Crimson heading home with the trophy.
“On the Charles River and at Tufts, these high winds were very puffy and shifty,” Adam Wolnikowski ’21 said. “[This led] to extremely difficult and unpredictable sailing conditions, including many capsizes and even some breakdowns.”
The second and third teams raced in the Jumbo Team Race at Tufts and the BU Trophy Fleet Race in Boston. The Bulldogs fought high winds to claim fourth place, ending with a 4 – 3 record while the Jumbos stomped to the top spot on their home turf. Still, the Elis managed to finish in the top half out of eight teams, racing ahead of teams like Connecticut College and BU.
At the Trophy Fleet Race hosted by BU, the Elis took a tumble and ended in 13th place, while the top two spots were ceded to Brown and Coast Guard. According to Collegesailing.org, winds were blustery on Sunday, leading to several capsizes and some race cancellations.
“All our time at practice and in the weight room was paying off in the racing in the windy conditions, where we were often more comfortable than the other teams in the breeze,” said Helen Ware ’22. “It was great to see all that work pay off so clearly in the results.”
The Bulldogs will return to the waters next weekend, with the women sailing at Coast Guard and the coed team competing at Connecticut College, Tufts and URI.
Valerie Pavilonis | valerie.pavilonis@yale.edu