It was an exciting two days for two Harvard male sailors who competed in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Championship for singlehanded lasers. The Crimson sent sophomore Marek Zeleski and rookie standout Perdomo to Yale, which was hosting the event.

In only his second collegiate regatta, Perdomo finished in third place, thereby qualifying for nationals, which will be held in November. The freshman is the first to qualify for nationals since Kyle Kovacks ’08 did so during his senior fall season in 2007.

Yale Freshmen Ian Barrows and Joseph Kiss, University of Vermont Junior Michael Zonnenberg, and sophomore Avery Fanning of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy finished on either side of Perdomo and also qualified for Nationals.

Zeleski, despite matching Fanning at 78 points, lost in the tiebreaker and did not make the cut to join his teammate. Last year he placed in 10th in this regatta.

Perdomo finished three rotations in second place and the final round in first. Zeleski also racked in a first place finish in his fifth rotation.

Despite the results, Perdomo believes he could have done better.

“The conditions were not the strongest and we would have liked to finished stronger,” he said. “The wind was really weak today, a lot weaker than the winds I’m used to back home in Puerto Rico.”

Racing alone is Perdomo’s forte, as he has always competed in lasers. Last weekend he competed in the Nevins Trophy in a boat with which he is not familiar, a 420.

“My starts were a lot better this weekend,” he said. “But my speed wasn’t as great as the other guys; the wind was light and choppy.”

Perdomo stressed the critical role of practice on the water and exposure to new and challenging conditions in his success.

“Overall, the team is pretty happy with how we did,” Bradt said. “We are improving, and this has really been seen over the last three weeks. But on the finer details we could definitely improve.”

—Staff writer Tanner Skenderian can be reached at tannerskenderian@gmail.com.