The long and winding course of the regular-season regatta schedule led both the co-ed and women's sailing teams from the chilly waters of New England to sunny St. Petersburg, Fla.

Both teams qualified for the Intercollegiate Yacht Racing Association Championships (ICYRAs), hosted there by Eckerd College on Boca Ciega Bay.

The women's team closed out a successful 1999 campaign with a seventh-place showing at ICYRAs, which concluded May 28.

Good racing conditions prevailed, with a current of 10-15 knots on flat water throughout the weekend.

Sailing in Vanguard 420s, the A Division team of freshmen Margaret Gill and Lauren Toretta accounted 136 of the Crimson's 234 points, and delivered clutch performances by finishing seventh, sixth and sixth in the last three of the tournament's 15 races.

Meanwhile, the B team of captain Courtney Ermler and junior Sarah Levin tallied 98 points, placing fifth or better in eight of 15 races.

The women's team had qualified for ICYRAs by virtue of edging MIT for fifth place at the Reed Trophy regatta, held at Dartmouth May 1. Ermler and Levin's fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the regatta's last two races sealed the one-point margin of victory.

"We were overjoyed when the final results came back," said Ermler after the regatta. "MIT was right down to the wire, and there were five other equally competitive teams alongside them."

The co-ed team also qualified for ICYRA Dinghy Championships, held June 2-4 also on Boca Ciega Bay. The results of that regatta were not known at press time.

Like its counterparts on the women's team, the co-ed sailors grabbed the last qualifying slot in the New England region by finishing fourth at the New England Dinghy Championships, held at the University of Rhode Island.

Harvard nosed out Connecticut College by maintaining a 13-point lead over the final race.

The A Division combination of seniors Peter Strothman and Becky Rosen tailed the Connecticut College boat around the course, finishing 10th but preventing the Crimson from jeopardizing its nationals qualification with a risky race.

Captain Christian Taubman and senior Brian Fox then edged Connecticut by one place in the B Division race, ensuring the nationals berth.

"This is what it all comes down to," Taubman said. "We sail other regattas, but nationals is nationals, it's why you do it. This weekend is the one that determines whether you go or not. Everything else is practice for this one."