Sailors Cruise to Victory Over B.U. in Oberg Cup

The Harvard sailing team topped a tough seven-team competition to win the Oberg Trophy and the Greater Boston Championships Saturday on the Charles River.

Harvard, accumulating only 51 points, edged out Boston University and MIT with 54 points apiece in a regatta which remained close in the last race. New England power Tufts followed with 62 points and Boston College, Northeastern and Brandeis rounded out the field.

Skippers Russ Long and Andy Efstathiou won the B and C divisions of the meet respectively, both finishing first in four of their seven races.

Efstathiou and his crew, Ed Gillis, swept the last four races of the C division en route to a strong first-place showing with 12 points.

Sophomores Steve Strittmatter and crew Bob Frantz held their own in the tough A division competition to finish fourth overall.

"Strittmatter doesn't have quite as much experience as the other skippers in his division," coach Mike Horn, who said he was pleased with his team's strong showing, commented yesterday.

Long, sailing with Peter Duble, led throughout the first race in the B division, but finished in last place because of confusion over the location of the finish line. They came back to take four races and win their division with 17 points.

The regatta came down to the last race in the B division with Harvard hanging on to a one-point lead over B.U.

"A B.U. sailor next to me said the margin was three points, so I thought I had a little to spare and I wasn't that careful about covering him in the face," Long said. "Luckily, I beat him anyhow and we won," the senior skipper added.

Saturday's victory was the Crimson's second in the three major meets so far this season. The team won the Admiral Moore Cup in New York three weeks ago, but finished a disappointing seventh in the Boston Dinghy Club Cup races last week.

"This regatta was important because there are a lot of good teams in the area," Horn said. "We're really looking to the New Englands at Yale in May. Yale and Tufts are tough," he added.