Julia Nagel/Sun Photography Editor

Sailing participates in Cayuga Invite on Sept. 19, 2021

March 21, 2022

Cornell Sailing Fares Well in Weekend Competitions

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This weekend, Cornell sailing traveled to Maryland to compete in the Washington College Team Race and the St. Mary’s College Women’s Interconference. 

The Red placed third out of six in the Washington race. The team finished with a 8/7 record, splitting their wins and losses.  

During the St. Mary’s competition, the Red’s fifth place score ranked it in the upper half of the competition, hosting a total of 18 teams. Cornell scored well in the A and B division, which maintained high levels of competition throughout the weekend. The Red ended with 129 points in the A division and 146 in the B division, racking up 275 points in total. The team just made it past fourth place which instead went to Tufts University, who ended with 269 points. 

Cornell’s performance at the St. Mary’s Interconference revealed improvement since their last time competing in the tournament, when they placed sixth in March of 2019.

Throughout the weekend, the Red worked well together, responding to the shifting winds and adjusting accordingly. 

“It was pretty challenging for us,” Assistant Head Coach Lior Lavie said. “We were up until the last set of races and in the hunt for top three [in the St. Mary’s Competition]. In the last set, we finished when conditions were 12 to 17 knots, gusting 20 knots and very shifty, so we ended up scoring fifth overall.”

Lavie emphasized how the weekend’s changing conditions and the unpredictability of sailing challenged the team during the weekend’s competitions. 

“Of course with these conditions were difficult,” said Lavie. “You cannot control your competitors in the sport of sailing, nor can you control wind patterns. You can only focus on yourself, your own decisions, and what you can do with the wind that you have.” 

Looking ahead, the team will continue to persevere in order to mitigate conditional problems and unforced errors. 

“It’s all about reducing the amount of errors,” said Lavie. “Whoever makes the least amount of mistakes will prevail.” 

In preparation for its upcoming competitions, the Red will work on their mental and physical game, taking this weekend as an opportunity to learn. 

“You have to get hit on your head a few times in order to reevaluate and rethink,” said Lavie. “Knowing these athletes, we are on the right track. We need to go through these moments in order to get to where we want to be at the end of the season.”

The Red will hit the water again at the Vietor Trophy held in New London, Connecticut and the Duplin Women’s Team Race at Medford, Massachusetts. The competitions will be held from March 26 to March 27.