ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Yale women's sailing team placed second at the Women's Fleet Racing National Championship in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Bulldogs raced neck-and-neck with Stanford throughout the competition and finished just behind the Cardinal.
On Friday and Saturday, the Bulldogs competed in the Women's Western National Semifinals to qualify for the national championship. In the semifinals, skipper Dorothy Mendelblatt raced with Julia Miller in A division, while skippers Carly Kieding and Audrey Foley competed with crews Annabel Woodworth and Ella Benedetto in B division. The squad placed second in the semifinals to earn a berth in the national championship.
During the first day of the national championship on Sunday, the breeze started at 12 knots out of the east. Shortly after, the wind began to die down throughout the morning, postponing races after both divisions completed three races. Later in the afternoon, the wind picked back up out of the southwest at about 10-11 knots and shifted to the southeast as the final races of the day took place. Six races in each division were completed on Sunday.
On the second and final day of the national championship, the wind similarly fluctuated throughout the day. In the morning, the breeze was steady at 10-12 knots from the east, but it later died down, causing another postponement. Although enough wind returned in the late afternoon for a final race to begin just before the 5 p.m. race-start cutoff time, both races were eventually abandoned when the wind died again. Over the two days of competition, 12 races were completed in each division. Yale finished with 128 points, behind Stanford's 113 points and ahead of Harvard's 161 points.
Skipper Dorothy Mendelblatt raced with crews Julia Miller and Maren Bradley, placing second in A division. Skipper Carly Kieding dominated B division alongside crews Annabel Woodworth and Audrey Foley, winning the division by 20 points.
The coed sailing team will begin competing for the Open Fleet Race National Championship on Tuesday, May 19. The semifinal competition will take place from May 19-20, with the finals following over the next two days. The championship will also be held at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg.
