CASTINE — With its surprise win two weeks ago in the New England Dinghy Tournament, the Maine Maritime Academy sailing team had good reason to anticipate a strong finish in last weekend’s New England Dinghy Championship regatta.

Hosted by Harvard on the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge, the regatta brought together New England’s 18 best dinghy sailing teams for two days of racing in FJ sloops. The top eight finishers would advance to the semifinal round of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ISCA) National Dinghy Championship.

Coach Tom Brown expected to have the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association (NEISA) “Sailors of the Week” Blake Burgess and Rinchen Harrison in the Mariners’ A Division boat again. Earlier this month, the freshman pair that had sailed together throughout the spring dominated the qualifier for the regional championships, finishing 19 points ahead of the second place boat.

Last weekend, though, illness kept Harrison out of the boat and forced Burgess to sail with two unfamiliar crew. In a sport that requires intuitive teamwork between skipper and crew that can only be developed during long hours of sailing together, and sailing against many of the top dinghy racers in New England, the lack of practice proved costly.

Sailing 12 races in a light, inconsistent westerly on Saturday, Burgess and his freshman crew managed one third and one fifth, but otherwise finished in the bottom of the fleet.

For more business news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.