In the final coed fleet, the Crimson had a sophomore and freshman as skippers. Three skippers in team racing were also part of the sophomore class. Harvard started only one junior, co-captain Isabel Ruane.

“We were going up against teams with a lot more juniors and seniors [and] experience,” Bradt said.

Throughout the season, the team had to contend with more seasoned competition. Harvard’s lack of experience was an ongoing challenge for both skippers and crews.

“We sailed an obviously young team,” Lamont said.

As a result, the coaches tried their best to practice fundamental tactical boat-handling issues at the beginning of the year. Bradt noted the improvement in fundamentals that showed itself towards the end.

Improvement was a word the Crimson sailors used frequently to describe their season.

“We’re already starting to look past [not qualifying this year], and we look forward to trying to get the team better for next year,” Lamont said.

The incoming class of freshmen has created optimism within the program. The Crimson graduates only two seniors this year, Nicolas Gordon and Jason Michas.

“We have a lot of young talent on the team, and we’re excited for next season,” Lamont said. “We have excellent coaches; it was just a tough year.”

Still, it was difficult for those who had been with the program for a few years to come to terms with not meeting the expectations that come with Harvard sailing.

“In general, it was a disappointing year in that we have had such a high level of achievement for the better part of 15 years, which made it difficult not to qualify,” Lamont said. “We were an average team in an average year, but we’re a team with much higher expectations.”

—Staff writer Tanner Skenderian can be reached at tskenderian@college.harvard.edu.