ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After leading the regatta for most of the weekend, the Yale coed sailing team fell to the No. 1 Georgetown Hoyas in the final round of racing to finish second overall at the Graham Hall Team Race. 15 teams sailed the event in the Naval Academy's fleets of Z420s and FJs.
Most of the regatta was sailed in light-moderate winds despite a forecast for breeze upwards of 15 knots on both days. Eleven Bulldogs sailed at different points in the weekend.
In this type of event, three boats are sailed per team in 3 vs. 3 races. Early in the season, the Yale team typically tests several skipper-crew and team combinations to determine which work best together and deliver the best results. These combinations will be switched around less towards the end of the season as the team prepares for the national qualifier.
Sailing for the Bulldogs were junior skipper Ian Barrows with crews Natalya Doris, Meredith Megarry and Clara Robertson, junior skipper Mitchell Kiss with crews Doris and Robertson, the duo of sophomore skipper Malcolm Lamphere and junior crew Chandler Gregoire and freshman skipper Nic Baird with crews senior Charlotte Belling, Doris and junior Isabelle Rossi de Leon.
Sophomore Christopher Champa and freshman Nick Hernandez also traveled with the team to the event and spent the weekend watching races and discussing strategy with head coach Zack Leonard '89, McNay Family Director of Yale Sailing.
This weekend made evident the huge strides the Bulldogs made during their week of spring training. They received fewer umpire calls and did fewer penalty turns as well as sailed faster.
Captain Kiss attested some of the improvement during spring break to the help of the alumni who spent a weekend sailing with and coaching the Bulldogs. Kiss said, "having alumni sail with us over spring break really helped us improve and hone our skills, which showed this weekend."
For full results from this weekend, visit http://scores.collegesailing.org/s16/graham-hall-team-race/.
Report filed by Natalya Doris '17, Yale Sports Publicity
