Yale Daily News

On the third weekend of competition, the Yale sailing teams competed in a number of races across New England. The women’s team captured a victory at Dartmouth’s Mrs. Hurst Bowl, while the coed teams finished in third and seventh at Tufts’ Hood Trophy as well as fifth at Brown-hosted Hoyt Trophy.

While there was only a light breeze on Saturday at Tufts, the wind picked up on Sunday to make for an exciting finish to the weekend competition. 

“[Because] the wind picked up on Sunday… we had some really nice pressure and very competitive races,” Catherine Cheung ’24 told Yale Athletics. “It was great experiencing the mysteries of Mystic Lake, sailing in Larks and spending time with the team.”

Cheung, along with Nicholas Davies ’24, Becca Rose ’22 and Christophe Chaumont ’23, made up one of the two Yale teams that raced at Tufts. Their team finished the weekend in third place behind host Tufts and Boston College, while Yale’s second boat finished in seventh. In 2019, the last time the race was held, the Elis took second at the Hood. 

The wind also proved to be an issue in Hanover at the Mrs. Hurst Bowl. Depending on direction and velocity, sailors must adapt their boats to the conditions to sail most effectively. With barely any wind to fill the 420-class sailboats, only a few races were completed on Saturday.

According to head coach Zachary Leonard ’89, ”Every wind condition is important to master so we are not too concerned if we have light wind or lots of wind.”

Coming into the second day in pole position, the women’s team gave away its lead early on Sunday. After trailing behind Bowdoin and Brown, the Bulldogs dug deep and surpassed the Polar Bears and Bears to finish in first. Yale’s victory this year marks an improvement from its second-place finish in 2019.

“The wind built throughout the day on Sunday making for exciting racing,” Megan Grimes ’24 said to Yale Athletics. “While our scores were up and down, it was a productive weekend and we all learned a lot.” 

At Brown, Yale took on tough competition at the Hoyt Trophy. Though pair Carmen Cowles ’25 and Meredith Ryan ’23 placed second in the B division, the team was unable to match the 2019 team’s victory, finishing in fifth behind Harvard, Brown, the University of Rhode Island and the United States Coast Guard Academy.

Originally, a fourth regatta — the Yale Invite — was in the books to compete this weekend. According to Leonard, the home regatta was canceled due to an insufficient number of teams as a result of last-minute team changes from other schools. The Bulldogs brought eight boats to the 2019 iteration of the event, where they swept the podium. 

This week, Yale sailors will be participating in six events. In Rhode Island, Bulldogs will sail at the Sister Esther Trophy at Salve Regina and the Moody Trophy hosted by the University of Rhode Island. The Blue and White will also be racing in Connecticut, participating in the Sacred Heart Trophy and the Coast Guard’s Danmark Trophy. Yale will also be returning to Tufts to sail at the Lark Invite. The Bulldogs proved victorious at Sister Esther, Sacred Heart and Lark in 2019

The women’s team is headed south to St. Mary’s College of Maryland to compete at the first round of the Atlantic Coast qualifiers, where they will be hoping to punch an early ticket to the fall championships hosted by Harvard on the notoriously shifty Charles River.

The victory at Mrs. Hurst marks Yale’s fifth regatta win in three weekends.

MELANIE HELLER
Melanie Heller currently serves as the Sports Editor for the Yale Daily News. She previously reported on women's hockey. Originally from Potomac, MD, she is a senior in Silliman College double majoring in Economics and Humanities.