Coffee Too Strong for Tech

Oct. 30, 2005

By
Mike Stoller

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - After a sensational start, Saturday, the MIT sailors settled for a 12th-place finish among 17 teams, this past weekend, in the Women's Victorian Coffee Urn. The sub-par finish denies Tech a berth to the Atlantic Coast Championship, held in New London, Conn., November 12-13.

Behind B-Division tandem Cha-ling O'Connell and Kate Hoff, the Engineers ranked a respectable 10th after the first day's total 13 rounds. With O'Connell as skipper and Hoff in tow, the duo slotted strong third- and fourth- placements in the opening two jousts. Combined with a solid A-Division performance by skipper Emma Bassein and crew Sunny Wicks, MIT began the event in first place. Bassein and Wicks contributed with second- and fourth-place marks to help the Tech cause.

While B-Division continued to flourish, finishing eighth and fourth in a pair of later rounds, the A team took a dip, placing no higher than 10th in the next five races. The overall drought continued into Sunday, and the Cardinal and Gray never recovered.

Host Harvard University won the regatta with a score of 168.