Yale Athletics

Yale sailors had an excellent weekend, winning the Mrs. Hurst Bowl in dominant fashion and earning top 10 results at both the Sherman Hoyt Trophy and the NEISA Match Race Championship. The Bulldogs competed simultaneously, split into three groups.

Dartmouth hosted the 27th Mrs. Hurst Bowl regatta on Mascoma Lake. Yale, composed of two two-sailor teams, held its position atop the scoreboard for the entire weekend.

“The conditions this weekend at Dartmouth proved to be very difficult, with the lake creating a challenging environment to understand. Across the two divisions, we showed a lot of consistency, which ended with us in the lead overall,” Audrey Foley ’28 said.

It was the team’s first event win of the season — a demonstration of its winning culture. The two boats — comprised of Dorothy Mendelblatt ’28, Julia Miller ’26, Carmen Berg ’26 and Foley — were able to add up their points and come out on top.

Vincent Huang ’28 applauded the energy surrounding the team.

“I have no other way to describe it other than to say that the vibes, if you will, are simply excellent, whether in the boats, in the weight room, at the house or anywhere else the team can be found,” Huang remarked.

The Bulldogs also competed in the Sherman Hoyt Trophy at Brown and the NEISA Match Race Championship, hosted by the United States Coast Guard Academy.

Brown hosts races on the confluence of the Seekonk River and the Atlantic Ocean. That creates a unique brackish water environment, which can prove challenging to Yale sailors used to the pure saltwater experienced at Yale’s facilities.

Elle Sykes ’27 explained that “the standard idea is that sailing in brackish or fresh water means the boat sinks into the water more than in salt water. It becomes important to roll the boat more during maneuvers as a result.”

Despite the challenge, the Bulldogs finished eighth of 18 at the Hoyt Trophy race.

The NEISA Match Race Championship followed match racing rules, in which one boat per team races head to head with another. Yale finished fourth in a competitive field, falling to the tournament runner-up Brown Bears in the elimination round.

Yale will compete in the first round of the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championships next weekend at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The Elis will also send teams to the United States Coast Guard Academy to compete for the Danmark Trophy and to Rhode Island for the Moody Trophy.