DERBY, Conn. -- The 2026-27 Yale lightweight squad had a great day in its debut on home waters Saturday at the Head of the Housatonic. In their only non-lightweight race of the year, the light Bulldogs won the two small boat events – the open coxed four and open pairs – and came in fourth in the open men's eight.
 
The Head of the Housatonic is the first fall test, usually with flat water and a simple course with long straightaway stretches. It is one of the largest regattas in the country, with 80 events spanning two days. 
 
Results

• The lightweights entered three boats in the Men's Collegiate 8+ (IRA) HVA Cup event. They competed against their heavyweight counterparts and opposing crews from Brown, La Salle and Trinity. A Yale heavyweight 'A' finished first, followed by Brown 'A'  and Yale heavyweight 'B'. The Yale lightweight "L" boat placed fourth, just over two seconds out of third. Yale's "T" boat placed ninth and Yale's "W" boat placed 14th.
• A short time later Yale raced three boats in the Men's Open 4+, where the Y150 earned the top two spots. The first-place boat finished in 15:13.536 and the second-place boat finished in 15:25.843, nearly nine seconds better than third-place Fairfield.
• Yale had four boats in the Men's Open 2-/2x, where the Y150 boats earned four of the top five spots. Only a fourth-place finish by a boat from Dominican kept the Bulldogs from sweeping the top four.

 
Up Next

• The Bulldogs will now look ahead to the Head of the Charles on Sunday Oct. 18, with the men's lightweight eight race set for 3:33 p.m.