NORFOLK, Va. – Scores were close at the Atlantic Coast Championship all weekend, down to the very last race of the regatta. The Yale coed sailing team finished second, just five points short of first, where they stood at the end of the day Saturday.
Though the No. 6 Coast Guard Bears ultimately took the win, the No. 3 Bulldogs outperformed the top teams in the country. They placed higher than the No. 1 Georgetown Hoyas and the No. 2 Boston College Eagles, who finished third and fourth, respectively.
On Saturday at Old Dominion University, as forecasted, the wind came out of the northwest and ranged between eight and fifteen knots. Wind velocity increased and decreased throughout the day in waves with an overall trend of decreasing velocity, which gave a high importance to boat speed and starting ability. The Bulldogs had both.
They used their strength in wavy, breezy conditions that they often see at their home venue to their advantage and ended the day at the top of the scoreboard.
Juniors Ian Barrows and Natalya Doris sailed all ten A-division races, while junior Mitchell Kiss with crews senior Charlotte Belling and Clara Robertson sailed in B division. Sophomore Christopher Champa also travelled with the team as a heavy-air crew, but the breeze was not strong enough for him to be substituted in.
The Bulldogs were about 10 points ahead of the Georgetown Hoyas at the end of the day. Barrows and Doris were winning their division by seven points after an extremely consistent day of sailing and Kiss, Belling and Robertson were in second in B, also having sailed exceptionally well after a tough first set.
On Sunday, light winds forced a postponement that lasted until about 12:30 p.m. The first A-division race was sailed in breeze that was on the edge of the wind minimum, but pressure to get races done prevented the race committee from abandoning the race when the it got too light.
They pushed racing to the 3:00 p.m. limit and the Bulldogs struggled to get their heads back in the game after being on land for so long. A combination of bad luck and bad starts made it difficult for the Bulldogs to perform as well as they did on Saturday.
Barrows was excited about the team's performance this weekend and took some important lessons from it that he hopes to implement next season.
He said, "Overall, it was one of our best regattas of the season. I'm excited to work with the team next season to improve our ability to maintain a competitive mental state throughout an event."
The Bulldogs were happy to end the season with a strong second place and are looking forward to a break from practice as final examinations approach.
Report filed by Natalya Doris '17, Yale Sports Publicity
