It was the wind that proved dominant this weekend, as the Harvard Sailing team struggled against surprisingly strong gusts on both Saturday and Sunday in four regional regattas. Despite some impressive individual finishes, the team overall faltered in the heavy wind, placing in the bottom half of all four competitions.

75TH ANNUAL OBERG TROPHY

In its strongest performance of the weekend, the Crimson took 11th on its home course on the Charles. Harvard crews were forced to deal with both unusually heavy winds for the basin and an unfamiliar type of boat.

“This weekend was a pretty odd weekend for the Charles,” freshman skipper Matt Mollerus said. “Usually we don’t get that much wind, but this weekend we saw probably an average of the upper teens on Saturday, and then Sunday was also very windy and puffy. Sailing on the Charles we’re used to very light and consistent conditions, so that’s something we had to adjust to.”

Mollerus and his crew, junior Sydney Karnovsky, were one of the bright spots for the team at the regatta. The two earned four victories in the B division on their way to a second place finish, just behind Boston University.

“At this regatta, we sailed a boat that we don’t usually sail, the Firefly,” Mollerus said. “But I feel like Sydney and I have sort of figured that out better than really any other team, so we were pretty dominant.”

Sophomore Marek Zaleski and freshman Emma Wheeler also performed well, earning two wins in the A division on their way to an 11th place finish, while junior Reid Bergsund and freshman Olivia Kjorlien earned two runner-up finishes on their way to placing 14th in the C division.

SHERMAN HOYT TROPHY

The Crimson had a tougher time competing on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, as the team finished 14th out of 17 teams for its worst finish overall.

Racing in 420s, Michael Drumm, Isabel Ruane, and Luke O’Connor struggled after their early success, finishing 16th in the A Division.

In the B Division, Ruane joined forces with junior Gram Slattery, sophomore Jacob Bradt, and freshman Julia Lord, all of whom contributed throughout the regatta.

CENTRAL SERIES 6

Sixteen teams from 13 schools came together for the Central Series 6 hosted by Boston College. After consistent racing from both boats over the two days, Harvard finished in 12th while two teams from Tufts claimed both first and second place overall.

The Crimson once again struggled with windier than usual conditions, as the sailors were forced to focus on just keeping the boat upright as opposed to more tactical matters.

“A lot of dealing with the wind is really just focusing,” freshman crew Bennett Capozzi said. “When it’s really windy your boat can be overpowered, which means it’s a lot of work to really keep your boat going fast and going forward and even not flipping, to an extent.”