The fifth-ranked co-ed sailing team competed in the Hap Moore Team Race over the weekend, hosted by Coast Guard. The Jumbos compiled a two-day record of 8-6 and finished in third place out of the 12 teams at the regatta.
Saturday came with great conditions for sailing, with a breeze of 4-7 knots that eventually got up to 10-14 knots. On Sunday, the breeze was at 4-8 knots. The first 44 races of the round robin occurred on Saturday, while the remaining 22 occurred on Sunday. The Jumbos ended the round robin with a 7-4 record, which earned them a spot in the final four. Joining Tufts in the final four were Harvard, Boston College and Brown, who finished the round robin with records of 9-2, 8-3 and 8-3, respectively. Tufts’ seven wins came against Army, Boston College, Conn. College, Columbia, Harvard, St. Mary’s and Vermont, while the four losses came against Brown, Coast Guard, Georgetown and Roger Williams.
Tufts struggled in the final four, finishing with a 1-2 record for a third place finish. The lone win of the final round came against Brown, with Tufts losing to both Harvard and Boston College. Harvard won the regatta and Boston College finished as the runner-up.
“This past weekend showed us that we are a good racing team but we still have a lot of work to do if we want to be ready to qualify for nationals come April,” senior tri-captain Sam Madden said.
Three teams of Jumbos sailed in the Hap Moore. One team consisted of senior skipper Alec Ruiz-Ramon and crew Madden, while the second team consisted of senior tri-captain skipper Dan Nickerson and classmate crew Jaime Maffeo. Rounding out the three pairs was the sophomore combination of skipper Scott Barbano and crew Caroline Atwood.
“We tried to take a lesson from each race, win or loss, and build on it,” Ruiz-Ramon said. “Making the final four was helpful in that we got to sail three more races and learn that extra little bit.”
Despite the promising result this past weekend, the Jumbos viewed the Hap Moore as a practice regatta for the Atlantic Coast Championships this weekend, which are also being held at Coast Guard.
“It was an opportunity for us to practice some team racing, which is only really sailed in the spring, and refocus for this coming weekend,” Madden said.
“It’s still very early to know how we will stack up in a season against Harvard and Boston College as we still are working on nailing the basics and learning as much as we can,” Ruiz-Ramon added.
Along with the coed team, the No. 15 ranked women’s team is also eyeing a good result at the Atlantic Coast Championships, which are being held on the Charles River at MIT. The last regatta for the women’s team was the Victorian Coffee Urn at Harvard over the weekend of Nov. 1, where the team earned an eighth place finish out of 18 teams, qualifying for the Atlantic Coast Championships.
“A good result at ACCs will help us climb higher in the rankings, and allow us to show that the Jumbos have a strong presence in women’s sailing,” sophomore MaryClaire Kiernan said. “This will be important in our push for a berth to [Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association] Nationals 2015.”
Both teams enter the ACCs highly ranked, and it is indicative of the overall state of the sailing program for which a culture of hard work, accountability and success has been established.
“The success of both the coed and women’s teams are a reflection of the hard work from entire team at practice,” Kiernan said. “Not everyone may get to sail the big events, but having the amount of talent and work ethic that we have on this team allows us all to push each other to be better sailors.”
“Both teams are looking for top finishes, while our co-ed team is looking to end our season on a high note after what has been one of the best fall seasons in recent record,” Madden said.
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