Yale Athletics

Varied wind conditions and competing teams were no match for the Bulldogs at their recent two races, the St. Mary’s Team Race Inter-Conference and the Friis Team Race. 

The Bulldogs took victory over Harvard University, Georgetown University, Brown University, Navy, the University of Pennsylvania and University of Charleston at the St. Mary’s river, led by skippers Jack Egan ’25, Stephan Baker ’26, Carmen Cowles ’25 and Teddy Nicolosi ’24. The following weekend, the Friis allowed for some close calls, but at the end of the day, Yale came out on top. Additionally, Baker and Benjamin Markert ’23 were named the NEISA Open Sailors of the Week for their critical roles in team racing.

“As is usual for New England Spring, both of these regattas were pretty cold, even getting some hail while sailing at the Friis,” said Egan. “It can be difficult to keep focus when your extremities are losing feeling, but I think we did a good job at staying in the game.”

The team trained together in St. Petersburg, Florida over spring break to prepare for the mid-season regattas. Egan felt that the training down South helped them get rid of “most of the winter rust.” 

The Friis team event, hosted by Roger Williams University, saw Yale go undefeated in all 12 races Saturday. The next day, Yale suffered a loss to Roger Williams during the second round robin and the Coast Guard during the final four. However, their wins the previous day kept them in first overall. 

“The last two regattas had tight competition all the way to the end of Sunday, with our back to back wins to seal the win over Harvard at the end of the St. Mary’s regatta being a highlight there,” said Nathan Sih ’25. 

Sih also expressed how “proud” he was of Markert and Baker for their recent recognition, calling them “a key factor in [their] successes at the past regattas.”

At St. Mary’s, the two aided in four of the final seven races, helping bring the team to success. Last year, senior crew member Markert was crucial in the team’s first-place finish at the NEISA Team Race Championship.

Egan also commented on the pair’s award, stating he was “happy to see them receive that award.” 

“It’s always nice to be recognized, but I think it speaks to the whole team and our collective improvement over the past weeks,” Egan said.

As the team looks forward, they hope to place well at the ICSA Open Team Race and Dinghy National Championships at the end of May.

“We’ve had some great successes in the first few events and are working hard to continue on our momentum from last season,” Mateo Farina ’25 said. “The conference is extremely competitive this year with some new faces but with spring break training and our consistent practice schedule we are in a great place!”

The teams will head to Cambridge this weekend for the Marchiando Team race and to Rhode Island for the Jumbo Team race.