The Harvard varsity sailing team placed third in the elimination for the New England Team Race Championships last weekend in Providence, R.I. The team's finish qualified it to compete for the Fowle Trophy in the New England Championships next weekend Brown.

If the sailors place second or higher in the upcoming regatta, they will gain a berth in their second consecutive national Team Race Championships. The Crimson has qualified for the national finals only once since the competition was installed 11 years ago.

"We're psyched," Petra Schumann said. "We're very happy to have made the New Englands. We're very optimistic about making it to Nationals."

The sailors who competed for the Crimson were Harvard Captain and skipper Gordon Burnes with Schumann, skipper John Pernick with crewmate Jeff Kurland, and skipper Peter Wagner with Deb Dubin. Scott Nathan also crewed for Burnes and Wagner.

The first day of competition was held in an 11-team, round-robin format, with the Crimson smashing all seven of its opponents. Harvard bested Yale, Tufts, Brown, Boston College, Coast Guard, Navy and Dartmouth.

What a difference a day makes.

Round robin action was finished up during day two--with less pleasing results for the Crimson sailors. Harvard was outraced by MIT, Connecticut College, and Boston University.

"I think we were disappointed that we lost our three races on Saturday," Burnes said. "But we pulled through in the end. We sailed very well against Yale and Tufts. We're pleased that we qualified."

After the regulation races were finished, the Crimson found itself in a three-way tie with the Elis and the Jumbos for the final two qualifying spots. In the sail-off, the Crimson crushed both teams to secure third place and a berth in the New Englands.

"We have a good chance of qualifying for Nationals," Burnes said. "We have three excellent skippers. Saturday was an example of how well we can sail."

The Crimson will try to earn a spot in the North American Dinghy Championships in this weekend's qualifiers at MIT.