Courtesy of Yale Athletics

The Yale Sailing team competed in four regattas this past weekend. The team placed well in each event, highlighted by a victory at the Hatch Brown Trophy in Boston.

The Yale co-ed sailing team competed in the Hatch Brown Trophy, the Single-Handed Nationals Qualifier and the Yale Invite, while the women’s team sent a boat to compete for the Regis Trophy.

At the Hatch Brown, Carmen Cowles ’25 and Ben Markert ’23 finished first in their division, and their success was a driving factor in their team’s narrow overall victory. Head coach Zachary Leonard told the News how “pleased” he was with how the weekend went. 

“We are making progress in practice and everyone on the team is working really hard to improve,” Leonard said. “That is our primary goal, but I’m always happy when the regatta results show that we are on the right track with the practice we are doing.”  

The women’s team also dominated the podium during their turn on the Charles. Carmen Berg ’26, Emma Cowles ’25, Mia Nicolosi ’25 and Sarah Moeder ’26 competed in the event, and the two boats finished first in each division, carrying the Bulldogs to a dominant overall victory for the second year in a row. 

Additionally, three Bulldogs competed for a spot to qualify at the men’s singlehanded nationals. Nicholas Davies ’24 finished second in the event, likely earning a spot in nationals later this sailing season. First years continued to make their mark early into the season as Stephan Baker ’26 came in ninth and Alex Adams ’26 came in sixteenth place at the same qualifier event. 

With two weeks of regattas under their belts, the team is continuing to build confidence and chemistry.

“We had a really successful second weekend,” Allison Rice ’23 said. “We’re excited by the way our team is growing and improving as we look to the rest of the fall season and beyond.”

The Bulldogs also hosted the Yale Invite this past Saturday at the McNay Family Sailing Center. The team was able to earn second and third place finishes in the Flying Junior fleet and 420 fleet events respectively. 

Notably, Ximena Escobar ’25 performed well in only her second race as a skipper. Escobar was also on the 2022 NEISA Watch Lists for Coed and Women’s Sailor of the Year, Babineau Crew of the Year and Women’s Crew of the Year. 

Alongside her on this list are teammates Berg, Cowles, Mia Nicolosi, Jack Egan ’25 and Teddy Nicolosi ’24. 

“Carmen and I stuck to keeping it simple and working on our boat handling,” Cowles told the News. “We were happy with our boat speed and tactical decisions, especially when climbing back through the fleet in such shifty conditions on the Charles.”

This weekend, the Yale co-ed team is set to compete at the Hoyt Trophy and Salt Pond Invite in Rhode Island and at the Hood Trophy in Massachusetts