This weekend, No. 4 Brown鈥檚 coed and women鈥檚 sailing teams divided and conquered the Northeast to earn podium finishes at four different regattas.
The women鈥檚 teams traveled south to compete in fleet races hosted by Yale 鈥� claiming second of six 鈥� and Connecticut College, securing third place in a field of eleven. Much of the co-ed group made the trip up to Tufts and dominated the Mystic Lake Team Race to win first place, while the rest of the team stayed home to host the New England Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Open Team Race Championship, the most important event of the weekend.
The NEISA Championship produced intense conference competition and featured program powerhouses such as Yale, Harvard and Roger Williams University. By the end of Saturday, Bruno stood at a five-way tie for first place with a record of 8-3.
Despite winning seven more races on Sunday, Brown lost in close races to MIT and Roger Williams in the top-six round to slip to a 15-8 record, clinching third place.
鈥淚 thought we sailed pretty well,鈥� said Head Coach John Mollicone in an interview with The Herald. 鈥淲e were really two wins off of first (place) after 23 races. We were in first or tied for first for a lot of events. So we鈥檙e right there,鈥� he added.
Skipper and former captain Connor Nelson 鈥�24, along with Vera Allen 鈥�27, led the charge for the NEISA squad. 鈥淐onnor (is) a multi-time All-American Skipper for college sailing. He鈥檇 probably be a finalist for the top skipper in New England. He really did a great job leading the group this weekend and (raced) one of his best team regattas I鈥檝e seen him sail,鈥� Mollicone said.
Even with a third-place finish, the team showed flashes of championship pedigree. Bruno had lost 4-5-6 in the first round against Roger Williams, then won 1-2-5 in the Top-8 round by beating them off the starting line with impressive speed.
Brown exuded even more dominance in the Tufts event. Racing on Mystic Lake, participants faced 鈥渦ncharacteristically inhospitable conditions for April,鈥� according to the NEISA official , that brought on occasional rain and 23-knot (26 miles per hour) winds.
鈥淚t was a long day for sure, but we鈥檝e practiced a lot in this weather. We worked on staying active while sailing and mentally resetting after each race, and it worked out for us,鈥� Janelle Li 鈥�25 wrote in a message to The Herald.
The coed squad sailed to a 18-3 record, never losing to any team more than once and posting three races with a 1-2-3 finish.
鈥淚 think we did a good job focusing on strong starts and boat speed, which put us in good positions to help each other,鈥� Li wrote. 鈥淭he lake can be super shifty, so we also improved on communication and playing back on the other teams鈥� boats to advance our teammates.鈥�
Since the spring season began six weeks ago, Bruno has placed in the top three in at least one regatta every weekend. Maintaining this level of performance after 40 events puts the team in prime position to win the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy, the national championship award crowning the best team in college sailing among the six conferences across the country.
鈥淟ast year, we finished third at the open team race national championship, and we want to try to improve on that this year,鈥� Mollicone said. 鈥淭hat鈥檒l keep us in contention (for) the Fowle trophy, and that鈥檚 our ultimate goal.鈥�
