With the team sailing in fewer races than usual, the three major regattas that Tufts participated in this weekend all held great importance. The headlining events for the Jumbos this weekend were the informal New England Championships for co-ed and women's sailing, along with the Knickerson Trophy, which qualified freshman sailors for Nationals. The sailors showed their strength by meeting and surpassing their own expectations in all of these regattas.
The Knickerson Trophy held the most important consequences for the team. The teams that placed in the top six spots in the race qualified themselves for Nationals this coming weekend. Tufts had never missed participating in this event, yet knew that it faced strong competition this weekend and the possibility of elimination. The Jumbos prevailed, however, taking fourth place under the leadership of freshmen Gavin Pace, Katie Shuman, A.J. Crane, and Pail Steinborn.
Part of the freshman team will now head west this weekend for Nationals in Seattle. Coach Ken Legler is excited about the chance they have created.
"They'll get a good opportunity to sail in a big regatta," Legler said.
Along with the Knickerson, the team also sailed in the Schell and Victorian Coffee Urn regattas last weekend. Both were the informal New England Championships for co-ed and women's sailing respectively. The regattas were each participating team's chance to qualify for the Atlantic Coast Championships in two weeks. Though Tufts had already qualified for these events, the victory in both races was a big boost for the team's morale.
"It's bragging rights for being the top team, at least for the next two weeks until the Atlantic Coast Championships," Legler said.
The win may propel the women's team out of the slump it has been in recently. By winning the Victorian Urn, the women proved that they compose one of the nation's strongest teams and can compete with any other in the country. It was the first time that the women had sailed with all of their top string sailors together, featuring seniors Jenn Provan and Laurin Manning. The two were able to dominate their competition with a decisive victory despite falling behind Dartmouth early in the race.
Entering the weekend, the women's team was excited by the opportunity to prove that it could show its strength as a team again.
"We're psyched to dominate and pull up our rankings," Provan said before the race.
Despite their great performances, the Jumbos won't be able to see their strong weekend reflected in the national rankings this week. With National Sailing regattas coming up, the rankings will not come out again until next week.
The Jumbo victories in these regattas also gave the team confidence in its ability to win at the Atlantic Coast Championships as well. Legler expects to face the same strength in competition at these upcoming regattas.
Hopefully, Tufts will be able to give another strong showing in the Atlantic Coast sailing championships and improve their standings in the co-ed and women's rankings. As of last week, the Jumbos stood in fourth place as a co-ed team and the women held fifth place. If the recent trend in sailing continues throughout the championships, though, the team should be able to move up in both areas.
For now, the coach's main focus this week lies in preparing his top sailors for the National tournament this weekend. Tufts will be sending junior Kimball Hall to sail for the men and Provan for the women. Both will be sailing in single hand elimination races against the nations top fifteen other school's skippers.
"Our goal is to qualify in the top five for both," Legler said.
The coach is aware that this is a tough task, especially since both sailors differing techniques cause them to strive in different types of weather.
"This will be difficult since Kimball needs heavy air and Jenn needs light air," Legler said.
Though the probability of both members winning the single-handed races this weekend is low, the coach hopes that both will be able to sail to their best potential. If this occurs, it should be enough for Provan and Hall to receive a high standing in the final outcome.
