In only her second month at Harvard, freshman sailor Margaret Gill has already achieved what most never do in four years--capturing first place at the Women's Singlehanded National Championship this past weekend at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in King's Point, N.Y.

"It was a lot of fun," said Gill. "[There] were really challenging conditions."

The three-day regatta hosted sixteen of the top sailors from around the nation--and only three freshmen--all of whom had to qualify in district regattas to attend. Gill's second-place finish at the New England Women's Single Handed two weeks ago earned her a ticket to this memorable weekend.

The first six races of the competition were held on Friday. After this first day, Gill was ranked fifth. Competition was tight, with only eight points separating the top five.

However, on Saturday Gill took full command of the regatta in eight races and ended the day with a 14-point lead.

"I knew the key to the regatta would be consistency. Conditions were chang- ing constantly," Gill said.

She refused to relinquish this position inSunday's final three races--bringing the total to16 races--and thus won the entire regatta with anoverall score of 83.

"I just tried to sail conservatively. I knew itwas okay for them to beat me but I had to stayclose. I had a bit of a cushion," Gill said.

Casey Hogan from Dartmouth, who edged Gill outof first at the New England Championships,finished second this time around with 92 points.She was followed by Kelly Armitage of Tufts whoscored 96.

Although other regattas this weekend preventedthem from attending the championship, the Harvardsailing team was extremely proud of theirteammate's victory.

"She beat a lot of good sailors in a variety ofconditions. It is very impressive that she won,"said senior captain Pete Strothman.

"It is wonderful, especially considering thatshe is a freshman," said women's varsity captainCourtney Ermler. "She has been working really hardall season in preparation for this."

Her little experience with lasers--the term forsingle-handed boats--makes the win all the moreremarkable. Because the team mostly competes indouble-handed regattas, Gill only really startedto practice in the laser a few weeks before theNew England Championships.

For her win, Gill was awarded the Janet LutzTrophy, given in honor of the former AthleticDirector of Pembroke College, R.I.

Team Results

While Gill was busy taking the women's sailingworld by storm in New York, the other members ofthe Crimson sailing team also took to the waterthis weekend in two different New Englandregattas.

The co-ed team traveled to Brown, sailingagainst 14 other Atlantic coast teams for the HoytTrophy. Strothman and freshman Susan Bonney sailedin Division A, while junior Christian Taubman andsenior Brian Fox paired together for Division B.Hobart won the regatta, but the complete list offinal standings was delayed due to a mix-up inresults.

"There was definite improvement as the regattawent on because we got used to the conditions andboat handling," Strothman said.

The regatta was a qualifier for the AtlanticCoast Championships but the Crimson need notworry, for it already qualified two weeks earlierwhen it won the Dan Mark Trophy.

The team will compete in an MIT regatta nextweekend, also a qualifier for the Atlantic CoastChampionships. With a spot at Atlantic's assured,next weekend will provide a good opportunity forpractice without any added pressure.

The women, however, are still on the hunt for aspot at Atlantics. They were also on the road thisweekend, finishing seventh out of 12 at the CoastGuard Academy in New London, Conn. Tufts finishedfirst and MIT second, results which qualified bothteams for the Atlantic Coast Championships comingup in November.

Ermler and sophomore Alex Beale competed inDivision A for Saturday's races. On Sunday, seniorBecky Rosen, who had been too ill to competeearlier, joined Ermler. Juniors Lauren Toretta andSarah Levin formed the duo for Division B.

"It was tough conditions. There was a lot ofcurrent which makes it difficult," Ermler said."It was a good learning experience."

The women hope to qualify for the AtlanticChampionships when they host fourteen otherschools for the Radcliffe Urn next weekend. Ifthey succeed, they get to return to the CoastGuard Academy, which is the site of the Atlantics.

"Hopefully, a lot of practice will make adifference for this weekend," Ermler said.Photo courtesy of the United States MerchantMarine AcademyFERN GILLY: Freshman MARGARET GILLsails at this weekend's Women's SinglehandedNational Championships, held at Kings Point.