Harvard wins first team championship

Advertiser Staff

A Tufts crew maneuvers in a tight group of boats during a triangle race off Ke'ehi Lagoon. Tufts finished second behind Harvard. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

O'Bryan, from San Diego, just graduated from UH. She led the Rainbow Wahine to a national championship last year and a second-place finish last week. She plans to pursue an Olympic campaign over the next two years.

It was Hawai'i's 22nd All-America honor.

Yesterday, Harvard won its first Intercollegiate Sailing Association North American Team Race Championship, in waters off Ke'ehi Lagoon. It collected the Walter C. Wood Trophy.

"It was a lot closer than it looked," Harvard team race coach Bern Noack said. "We had a lot of tough races. When the tradewinds kicked in today it gave us an advantage with our bigger skippers."

Harvard went 17-0 in the three-day event, which pits school teams of three boats against one another. The school with the lowest point total wins each race. Boats get a point for each place.

Tufts (13-4) placed second, Georgetown (12-5) third and College of Charleston (8-9) fourth.

UH (7-4) lost to Tufts in the final race Monday to finish fifth out of 12 teams. A Hawai'i victory would have forced a three-way sail-off among UH, Tufts and Charleston for the final qualifying spot.

Harvard sailed with just two seniors in the team championship — skipper Sean Doyle and crew Susan Bonney. It used six juniors and one sophomore.

Harvard won 11 first-round matches Sunday and Monday and remained unbeaten through double round-robin action yesterday. Defending champion Georgetown was second going into the final day, but went 2-4 in the final round.

Old Dominion won the women's national championship Friday. The ICSA/Gill North American Coed Dinghy Championship begins today at Ke'ehi Lagoon. UH and 17 other teams will compete, beginning at noon today and 9:45 a.m. tomorrow and Friday.