This weekend, No. 4 Brown’s coed and women’s sailing teams divided and conquered the Northeast to earn podium finishes at four different regattas.
The women’s teams traveled south to compete in fleet races hosted by Yale — claiming second of six — and Connecticut College, securing third place in a field of eleven. Much of the co-ed group made the trip up to Tufts and dominated the Mystic Lake Team Race to win first place, while the rest of the team stayed home to host the New England Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Open Team Race Championship, the most important event of the weekend.
The NEISA Championship produced intense conference competition and featured program powerhouses such as Yale, Harvard and Roger Williams University. By the end of Saturday, Bruno stood at a five-way tie for first place with a record of 8-3.
Despite winning seven more races on Sunday, Brown lost in close races to MIT and Roger Williams in the top-six round to slip to a 15-8 record, clinching third place.
“I thought we sailed pretty well,” said Head Coach John Mollicone in an interview with The Herald. “We were really two wins off of first (place) after 23 races. We were in first or tied for first for a lot of events. So we’re right there,” he added.
Skipper and former captain Connor Nelson ’24, along with Vera Allen ’27, led the charge for the NEISA squad. “Connor (is) a multi-time All-American Skipper for college sailing. He’d probably be a finalist for the top skipper in New England. He really did a great job leading the group this weekend and (raced) one of his best team regattas I’ve seen him sail,” Mollicone said.
Even with a third-place finish, the team showed flashes of championship pedigree. Bruno had lost 4-5-6 in the first round against Roger Williams, then won 1-2-5 in the Top-8 round by beating them off the starting line with impressive speed.
Brown exuded even more dominance in the Tufts event. Racing on Mystic Lake, participants faced “uncharacteristically inhospitable conditions for April,” according to the NEISA official website, that brought on occasional rain and 23-knot (26 miles per hour) winds.
“It was a long day for sure, but we’ve practiced a lot in this weather. We worked on staying active while sailing and mentally resetting after each race, and it worked out for us,” Janelle Li ’25 wrote in a message to The Herald.
The coed squad sailed to a 18-3 record, never losing to any team more than once and posting three races with a 1-2-3 finish.
“I think we did a good job focusing on strong starts and boat speed, which put us in good positions to help each other,” Li wrote. “The lake can be super shifty, so we also improved on communication and playing back on the other teams’ boats to advance our teammates.”
Since the spring season began six weeks ago, Bruno has placed in the top three in at least one regatta every weekend. Maintaining this level of performance after 40 events puts the team in prime position to win the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy, the national championship award crowning the best team in college sailing among the six conferences across the country.
“Last year, we finished third at the open team race national championship, and we want to try to improve on that this year,” Mollicone said. “That’ll keep us in contention (for) the Fowle trophy, and that’s our ultimate goal.”
