The Spring 2025 season has been another for the history books for Harvard Sailing. The co-ed squad won the Intercollegiate Sailing Association National Championship on April 24. The women’s team followed this with a third-place finish on April 27 at the Women’s ICSA National Championship. Heading into the Open Fleet National Championships, the No. 1-ranked co-ed team earned the top seed, and the No. 4-ranked women’s team earned the fifth seed.
Sailing is often misunderstood, with many people holding misconceptions about the sport. “I feel like you think 50-year-old, rich individuals at a yacht club, puttering around on a big boat on a joy cruise,” said Amelie Zucker ’28, a crewmember on the women’s team. “I’d say it’s both physically taxing and also one of the most mentally challenging sports, too.”
“[There’s] the strategic and tactical part of sailing: playing the shifts, understanding current, understanding how everything will affect your boat’s speed…no one really understands that part of sailing,” added fellow crewmember Kate Danielson ’28. “The fact that the wind is different on every single part of the course is not something that a regular person would think of.”
The team, also known as a crew, is organized into a co-ed and women’s team, with some overlapping members, that compete at races, called regattas. Sailors will race in boats of two people, with multiple crafts per team depending on the race. Each boat is operated by a skipper, who steers and makes strategic decisions, and a crewmember, who handles the more physical and mechanical tasks.
The team’s success this season has been anchored not only on the water but also by strong leadership on land. Captains Mitchell Callahan ’26 and Kennedy Leehealey ’26 have guided the team over the past year, creating a supportive and competitive environment. Mitchell’s brother, former captain Justin Callahan ’26, has also played a key role with his standout performances. “Justin Callahan is the best college skipper in the country,” Danielson commented.
Justin Callahan recently received the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s Open Skipper of the Year award. The honor is given to the best captain or “master” of a ship determined by the candidates’ records.
Cordelia Burn ’25 was awarded the NEISA Sportswoman-of-the-Year honor for her success as a crewmember and skipper across the season. Multiple other team members also won NEISA first and second team placement, which honors top skippers and crewmembers for success during the season.
Despite all of his achievements, Justin Callahan’s favorite part of sailing isn’t his wins, but rather who he gets to do it with. “Sailing with your twin brother, and in my opinion, competing alongside next to him, is something that’s always the most valuable thing to me in sport… Anytime we get to do it by each other’s side, that’s something that’s really special for us,” he said.
“Our coaching staff has really cultivated a culture that is very inviting and is very resourceful and helpful when it comes to balancing a heavy academic course load and also trying to compete and practice five to six days a week,” Justin added.
The team can credit a lot of its success to the leadership of their teammates, but also acknowledges the tight-knit environment that brings the team closer together. “We have a pretty small group of guys. There are six guys on our team, versus like 20 girls. So I’m pretty close with a good portion of the team,” said Harrison Strom ’28.
Looking to the Open Championships at the end of May, which will conclude the sailing season, the team sees even more untapped potential. “Just keep improving. I feel there’s a really good energy on the team right now. We are all very motivated, all with our goals. [Everyone is] working really hard,” said Davidson. “Winning Nationals would be good too.”
Justin Callahan shared a similar perspective on future goals. “I don’t think it’s necessarily results-oriented. I think it’s more of just maximizing the full potential of myself, teammates, coaches, and really just working towards a common goal, just trying to get 1% better every day,” he said.
But Justin has goals beyond the collegiate waters. “I plan on, at the moment, hopefully, doing an Olympic campaign and trying to go to the Olympics for sailing,” he said. “So I’ll be doing some training for that over the summer.”
Watch out for Harvard Sailing as they compete at the Open Championship from May 20 through May 30. The team looks to defend its championship title from last year.
Kalvin Frank ’28 (kfrank@college.harvard.edu) has never been on a sailboat but now wants to try out for the sailing team.