The Harvard sailing team staved off late rallies by Coast Guard and Princeton to win the Schell Trophy at M.I.T. last Sunday, and established itself as one of the top squads in New England.

The Crimson is now favored to take the New England Team Racing Championships this weekend in the Fowle Trophy regatta at M.I.T. Competition from the other finalists, Coast Guard Boston University, and M.I.T., is expected to be tough. Carter Ford, Mike Lehmann. Mike Horn, Dave Stookey, and Pete Farrow, the skippers who swept the elimination series two weeks ago, will pilot Harvard.

In the Schell meet, skippers Ford and Lehmann paced the Crimson yachtsmen to an impressive 23-point lead during the first day of competition. The pair each had two firsts, two seconds, one fourth, and one fifth Saturday, and tied for top individual honors.

But Sunday, Coast Guard and Princeton closed fast to narrow the Crimson's winning margin to 5 1/2 points. Ford and Lehmann dropped to third place in their respective divisions.

The victory was the third in as many weeks and the fifth of the season for the outstanding Crimson squad, and entitles them to compete in the War Memorial Trophy Regatta at Annapolis, Nov. 18-19, against top sailing colleges from the Midwest and Middle Atlantic states.