W. Sailing Competes for Nationals

A seventh place finish may not seem like much, but if the Harvard women’s sailing team can duplicate that result from last weekend, its stands a good chance of qualifying for the National Championships in Detroit.

Last weekend the Crimson sailed in the Dellenbaugh Intersectional at Brown, and to the Ocean State it shall return for New England Championships this weekend. That practice run might prove invaluable, low finish aside.

“[The Dellenbaugh] gave us a chance to evaluate the site of women’s New Englands this weekend,” junior Clemmie Everett said.

The Dellenbaugh brought teams from both the New England and the Mid-Atlantic regions, so Harvard’s seventh place finish is somewhat deceptive. Compared against teams from the New England region, the Crimson finished in third, behind Brown and Tufts, and one slot ahead of Dartmouth.

“If we beat all the teams this weekend that we beat last weekend, we’re on track to qualify [for Nationals],” junior captain Jennie Philbrick said.

Depending upon the number of teams that compete at Brown, up to six teams could qualify for Nationals.

In preparation for the New Englands, and in an attempt to improve upon last weekend’s performance, the Crimson has been training in 420s, a kind of double-handed boat, all week.

The likely pairings this weekend will have Philbrick with junior Diana Rodin, Everett assisted by sophomore Laura Schubert, and freshman Genny Tulloch captaining a boat that will be crewed by junior Liz Lord.

In addition to acquainting each captain-crew pair with the handling of the 420s, this week has provided the Crimson with the opportunity to work on its biggest fault thus far this season—starts.

The women’s team has struggled consistently with the quality of its starts all spring. A clean start ensures that the boat can race straight off the line, while a bad start—in which the boat crosses the start line too early—will put the offenders back many seconds until it re-starts from the correct spot.

The Crimson’s poor starts last weekend resulted in a number of poor finishes. While there were a number of top five places, the majority of the team’s other outcomes were in the bottom five, ensuring a middle-of-the-pack ranking.

“When we started behind, we had to take some big chances that sometimes didn’t work out so well,” Everett said.

Still, reasons for optimism are present. When the team did get off the line well, its boat speed and handling made it competitive with Brown and Tufts.

The key to Harvard’s success will lie in how well it manages to address its biggest weakness in five days of practice. And if the team does straighten out its start, it can book a plane ticket to Detroit.

—Staff writer Timothy M. McDonald can be reached at tmcdonal@fas.harvard.edu.