CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Sailing will close out its regular season this weekend with four fleet races, including two NEISA Championships, in New England. The Crimson is set to compete over two days, April 18-19, at the NEISA Women's Fleet Racing Championship/Reed Trophy in New London, Connecticut, and the NEISA Open Fleet Racing Championship/Coast Guard Alumni Bowl in Cranston, Rhode Island. Harvard is also slated to sail on the Charles River on Saturday, April 18, at the Boston Dinghy Cup Fleet Race and on Sunday, April 19, at the Morris Trophy Fleet Race.
Forecast
Boston Dinghy Cup Fleet Race | Boston, Mass.
Saturday will be cloudy and in the mid-to-upper 50s. The wind will start out of the east-northeast before shifting to the east between 7-9 knots.
NEISA Women's Fleet Racing Championship/Reed Trophy | New London, Conn.
The first day of the regatta will be mostly cloudy and in the 59-60-degree range, with the wind varying between 4-8 knots (ENE, E, ESE, SE). Sunday, meanwhile, will bring light rain, temps in the low 50s and wind out of the northwest between 9-11 knots.
NEISA Open Fleet Racing Championship/Coast Guard Alumni Bowl | Cranston, R.I.
The clouds will move in and out of the picture on Saturday, giving sailors a cloudy/mostly cloudy look on the water. Temps will begin in the upper 50s and rise to as high as 63, with 6-9-knot gusts (NE, ENE, E, ESE). Rain is expected to move in on Sunday with a high temperature of 55. The wind is expected to come out of the west-northwest at 8-12 knots.
Morris Trophy Fleet Race | Cambridge, Mass.
Light rain is expected to be a factor on Sunday, with temps staying steady at 55 degrees. The wind will be between 8-12 knots and out of the southwest, west-southwest and west throughout the day.
What to Know
- Harvard finished its regular-season team-racing slate last weekend, finishing in second place at the Thompson Trophy Team Race and fourth at the NEISA Women's Team Racing Championship/Legler Trophy. The Crimson also took fifth in its first fleet race of the spring, the Bentley-hosted Central Series 4 Fleet Race.
- The Crimson's outcome at the Thompson Trophy snapped a six-regatta winning streak for Harvard's open squad. The group finished in a first-place-tie record-wise (14-1) with Stanford, but a head-to-head loss to the Cardinal dropped them to second. The six-win spring, meanwhile, is perhaps the most dominant team-racing showing in college sailing history.
- On the women's side, Harvard put a lid on its team-race season with its sixth top-5 performance after coming in fourth at the Legler. In seven spring weekends, the Crimson finished in sixth place or better in each of those outings.
- For Harvard's performance at the Thompson Trophy, NEISA named the Crimson's open athletes its sailors of the week. Justin Callahan, Christina Chen, Aidan Pesce, Mitchell Callahan, Rosella Irfan, Robby Meek and Jacob Posner helped Harvard take home its second consecutive weekly honor.
- The Crimson was officially named to the national field at both the ICSA Open and Women's Team Racing National Championships on Tuesday night. Harvard's open team earned NEISA's automatic bid to the regatta, while its women's squad was an at-large selection. Both events will take place on Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana (Open – April 23-25, Women's – April 26-27).
- Harvard comes into the NEISA Open Fleet Racing Championship having raised the Coast Guard Alumni Bowl three consecutive seasons. Prior to the current run, the Crimson finished in second place in 2022. Harvard will be making its third appearance in Cranston this season and was victorious on its previous two trips (Liam O'Keefe Trophy, NEISA Open Team Racing Championship).
- In 2025, Harvard won the Coast Guard Alumni Bowl with a final score of 103, finishing ahead of Boston College and its 118. The Crimson returns all seven athletes from that championship team (J. Callahan, M. Callahan, Chen, Pesce, Xavier Ayala-Vermont, Irfan, Pesce).
- The Crimson has posted three straight top-5 finishes at the NEISA Women's Fleet Racing Championship, ending in second in 2023, fifth in 2024 and third in 2025. The last time Harvard sailed in Connecticut waters, it won the Yale Women's Team Race on April 4.
- Harvard finished the 2025 NEISA women's regatta with a score of 35, behind Yale (13) and Brown (28). The Crimson returns its B-division sailors in Zoey Ziskind and Peyton Hadfield, and reserves Chen, Theresa Straw and Amelie Zucker.
- Harvard returns to the Boston Dinghy Cup Fleet Race after placing second a year ago. The Crimson finished with 102 points at the three-division regatta. Back this season from that Harvard outfit is Robby Meek, Harrison Strom, Kate Danielson, Katherine Shin and Zucker.
- The Crimson makes its first appearance at the Morris Trophy since 2022. That campaign, Harvard finished in 16th place at the 18-team field.
Up Next
Harvard will compete for a pair of national titles next week. The ICSA Open Team Racing National Championship will take place April 23-25, while the ICSA Women's Team Racing National Championship will be up for grabs April 26-27. Both will be in New Orleans, Louisiana.
