Harvard Sailing made program history this past weekend, winning the Women’s Atlantic Coast Championship Final for the first time. The Crimson secured the landmark victory at St. Mary’s City, Maryland, finishing with 139 points to edge out runner-up Stanford at 146. Yale came in third with 147 points, while Tulane rounded out the top four at 154.
The weekend showdown came down to the wire, with just four points separating the top four teams after the first day of racing. Harvard answered emphatically on Sunday, pulling away to clinch the title. In the A-Division, skipper Zoey Ziskind led the charge with crew support from Christina Chen in Races 1-2, Peyton Hadfield in Races 3-10 and 13-14, and Grace Montgomery in Races 11-12. The B-Division featured Kate Danielson at the helm, with Zia Zucker crewing in Races 1-4 and 10, Montgomery in Races 5-9, and Chen in Races 11-14. JJ Drummond served as a reserve.
Harvard’s A-team delivered 10 single-digit performances across 12 races, receiving byes in Races 9 and 10. Prior to the bye in Race 9, the Crimson posted a five-race finish line of 2-7-5-9-7. A runner-up finish in Race 4 and another second-place effort in the final race of the day helped secure an 87-point total, ranking fourth in the A-Division.
The B-Division crew was the star of the regatta, finishing atop the field with a commanding 52 points. Across 14 races, Harvard won Races 5, 6, 8, 9, and 14, with just one finish outside the top nine — a 10th in Race 7. The Crimson closed the final day in emphatic fashion, logging a four-race line of 2-5-2-1.
Harvard also competed at the Captain Hurst Bowl in Enfield, New Hampshire, where conditions turned a planned two-day regatta into a Saturday-only affair. Temperatures hovered in the mid-40s, with a northwest breeze ranging from 14 to 25 knots and intermittent snow sprinkles. The Crimson finished eighth with a score of 166, while Stanford claimed the Bowl with a 96.
Representing Harvard in the Granite State were Jacob Posner and Amelie Zucker in the A-Division, and Max Wolfensberger and William Bourell in the B-Division. Skyler Reading was on site as a reserve.
The A-team pairing of Posner and Zucker showed flashes of brilliance, recording six single-digit finishes including a win in Race 7. An 8-6 line in the final two races helped Harvard close Saturday with 89 points in the division. Wolfensberger and Bourell, meanwhile, recovered from a DNF-10 start to reel off eight consecutive top-nine finishes, ending with a 77.
Harvard returns to the water the following weekend, with the Boston College-hosted Norman Reid Team Race set for Saturday, October 24, and the Open Atlantic Coast Championship Final, hosted by Brown, scheduled for October 24-25.
