ENFIELD, N.H. – This weekend, the Yale coed sailing team placed fifth at the New England Dinghy Championship, earning themselves a berth for the spring ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship. Six bulldogs were also named to various All-New England Teams and some earned impressive individual awards.
Wind conditions at the event were among the worst the New England district saw all season – velocity ranged from zero to four knots all weekend. The race committee was only able to get off four races in each division on Sunday, just barely reaching the minimum allowable number of races of three.
Despite the tough conditions, the Bulldogs kept their heads in the game and finished fifth overall, just twelve points out of first. As assistant coach Bill Healy put it, "The team did a great job keeping focus after a long day and a half delay."
Sailing for the Bulldogs in A division were juniors Ian Barrows and Meredith Megarry. They won two of the four races they sailed on Sunday, which helped bring them to a first-place finish.
Freshman Nic Baird and senior Charlotte Belling represented the Bulldogs in B division, placing eighth. Despite a rough start on Sunday afternoon, they won the last race, officially securing the Bulldogs a spot at the Nationals.
After racing concluded on Sunday, the New England Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association awards committee announced several individual awards as well as named the 2015-16 All-NEISA Teams.
Baird was named Rookie of the Year and Barrows was named Sailor of the year. Both of these awards are a testament to their hard work, consistent top-level results and strong contributions to team racing. They were both also named to the All-NEISA Skipper First Team.
Junior captain Mitchell Kiss and sophomore Malcolm Lamphere were named to the All-NEISA Skipper Second Team.
Juniors Natalya Doris and Clara Robertson were named to the All-NEISA Crew First Team.
The Bulldogs will take most of the next two weeks off for reading period and final exams and are scheduled to begin post-season training on May 12th to prepare for the Women's, Team Racing and Fleet Racing National Championships.
Healy is looking forward to post season, when "the team is focused mainly on sailing without the added pressure of classwork."
For full results from this weekend, visit http://scores.collegesailing.org/s16/coast-guard-alumni-bowl/.
Report filed by Natalya Doris '17, Yale Sports Publicity
