Looking to build upon last year’s third-place finish at Nationals, the Harvard sailing team kicked off its 2011 campaign with several strong showings at a trio of regattas.

This past weekend, the No. 10 Crimson coed squad took second place at the Harry Anderson Trophy intersectional hosted by Yale, while the women’s team finished 10th at the Toni Deutsch ’58 Trophy at nearby MIT.

The sailing team also hosted the Harvard Invitational, its first home regatta of the season, facing off against local competition in Tufts and the two squads sent out by MIT, the Engineers and the Beavers.

The Crimson took second place at the brief one-day affair, finishing just four points behind the Jumbos.

“I think overall, [the weekend] was really good,” captain Brendan Kopp said. “It was our first weekend racing, and we’ve only had the beginning of September to train. We have been using that time to train as hard as we can. It paid off, and it was a good start.”

HARRY ANDERSON TROPHY

Having graduated five All-Americans at the end of last season, the Harvard coed sailing team’s prospects for the year were very much up in the air.

“It was our first major regatta of the season, and last year we lost some terrific seniors,” senior Emily Lambert said. “But we have a new crop of sailors.”

So far, those rookies stepped up to the challenge, as the Crimson put up 147 points to finish nine points behind the eventual champion, Wisconsin. Kopp skippered all ten races in the A-division for Harvard, with sophomore Sarah Pierson and freshman Richard Bergsund splitting time at crew. Lambert skippered in the B-division, and captain Alex Jumper, sophomore Ben Lamont, and Bergsund all took turns at the crew position.

“Richard really stepped up to the plate,” Lambert said. “He typically skippers in practice, but he made a good transition to crew this week.”

Kopp’s performance at the Harry Anderson Trophy regatta as the skipper earned him Harvard COOP Athlete of the Week honors.

TONI DEUTSCH ’58 TROPHY

The No. 8 Harvard women’s team opened its season with a 10th-place showing at the Toni Deutsch ’58 Trophy hosted by MIT. Sophomores Morgan Russom and Isabel Ruane put together the strongest performance for the Crimson, recording two first-place finishes, three second-place finishes and a third-place finish on the weekend. The A-division crew finished with 185 points.

In the B-division, sophomore Caitlin Watson and senior Caroline Lowe combined for three fourth-place finishes for Harvard, ending the weekend with 221 points. With 406 total points, the Crimson finished 10th in the field of 14 teams. Brown took first place with 266 points.

HARVARD INVITATIONAL

The Crimson coed squad hosted the 2011 Harvard Invitational, its second regatta of the weekend. The event only consisted of eight races, finishing up in just one day.

The class of 2015 flexed its muscles in Sunday’s regatta, as the squad sent out to compete was comprised entirely of freshmen looking for their first action at the collegiate level.

Freshman Gram Slattery skippered the A-division races with classmate Emma Smith at crew, and the tandem recorded two second-place finishes and a win to give the Crimson 27 points. In the B-division, freshman Brian Drumm teamed up with junior Nicholas Gordon to notch two wins, finishing with 24 points.

Harvard’s 51-point total was good for second place, just four points behind Tufts.

MIT rounded out the three-team field with 90 points.