NEWPORT, R.I. – Early this week, the Yale coed sailing team rose to the top of the college sailing rankings, edging out Georgetown by one point, based on this season's results through October 14. The Bulldogs also placed third at the New England Match Racing Championship, just missing the national-qualifying second place, second at the Captain Hurst Bowl and seventh at the Providence College Invite.
Match racing in Newport were junior Ian Barrows, who skippered, with crew senior Marly Isler and freshman Nick Hernandez.
The Bulldogs performed well at the event, placing third, especially given how little time they had to practice with each other beforehand.
Hernandez thought that most of the difficulty the team faced was in boat handing, which reflects on the limited time they were able to practice. Their strength was in a skill that the team focuses on at dinghy practice, starting.
He said, "As the wind increased, racing became more of a boat handling game… We were really good on the prestart."
At Dartmouth, the Bulldogs spent the weekend head-to-head with the Boston College Eagles, trading first and second place multiple times. Though the Eagles ultimately won the regatta, the Bulldogs had excellent finishes in all three divisions with impressive performances by underclassmen.
Juniors Mitchell Kiss and Clara Robertson won A division, which was a particularly deep and competitive fleet this weekend. Kiss and Robertson were also the youngest boat in the top five.
In B division, freshman Nic Baird with senior captain Charlotte Belling placed third. They ended the weekend just four points out of first.
Sophomore Malcolm Lamphere with junior Chandler Gregoire placed fourth in C division.
The Bulldogs ended the regatta in second overall out of 18 teams, overcoming exceptionally cold temperatures (which were below freezing on Sunday), hail, snow and strong breeze.
In Providence, R.I., the Bulldogs finished seventh. In A division, senior skipper Eric Anderson with junior crew Amelia Dobronyi extended from the fleet from the start of the regatta along with a boat from the Brown team, and ended second, tied with Brown.
In B division, sophomore skipper Patrick Buehler sailed with crews junior Elizabeth Tokarz and freshman Ayla Besemer. They placed 12th.
Next weekend the Bulldogs head to Brown University, MIT and Roger Williams University for the Hoyt and Oberg Trophies and Southern Series 7. It will be the last weekend of the regular fall season, with the Atlantic Coast Championship and its qualifying event taking place in the following weeks.
To see full results from this weekend, visit http://scores.collegesailing.org. Visit the college sailing rankings here: http://www.sailingworld.com/sites/sailingworld.com/files/swrankings_10_15_15.pdf.
Report filed by Natalya Doris '17, Yale Sports Publicity
