It was smooth sailing this weekend, as the team defended its Hood Trophy championship title with a victory at its home race. Against the squad's stiffest competition of the season, the win came as no surprise to coach Ken Legler, as his team easily sailed to a 36-point victory, which should enable Tufts to maintain its current second place National ranking.
The Jumbos finished with 75 points at the co-ed competition, compared to second-place St. Mary's with scored 111.
Legler had expected an easy victory at the race since many teams, such as Dartmouth and Harvard, send their strongest sailors to the single-hand elimination races also this weekend. The Jumbos have performed well against these teams in the past, and their depth pulled them to victory despite vacancies left by key team members at the single hand elims.
"I was very pleased with our finish this weekend," Legler said. "It was a little on the easy side considering who we were up against, but it was as I would have predicted since Harvard and Dartmouth were hurt by the absence of their first string sailors."
A one-point difference separated Tufts sailors junior Pete Levasque and sophomore Ariel Fromer from a first place finish in the A division race.
"They were matched up very well," Legler commented. "Sometimes it is just difficult to predict what the wind is going to do."
In the B division race, Tufts senior John Birkett and sophomore Katie Shuman cruised their way to a comfortable 22-point, first place victory.
"It is very nice to have home venue advantage," Shuman said, "It's very comforting to be able to know the weather situation on the lake while other teams have to keep guessing."
Shuman felt that Birkett's vast experience in this type of race helped lead them to their easy victory.
"It is one of John's best events," Legler said. "It is nice to see consistency in his sailing."
In the single-handed elimination races at Dartmouth and Yale on Saturday and Sunday, Jumbo sailors senior Thomas Zanios, junior JR Maxwell, senior Kimbal Hall, and junior Joel Hanneman finished with enough points to qualify for New Englands in October.
While freshman Brendan Shattuck failed to qualify at Dartmouth on Saturday, according to coach Legler, he will most likely enter into the last chance qualifier for another chance.
Legler predicts good performances at the New England Championship by both Hall and Hanneman.
"Hall qualified twice before, finishing fifth at the nationals in 1999," the coach said. "And Joel is sailing just as well as Kimbal in lasers these days. If the wind is over 18 knots, Kimbal is the most likely qualifier; 12-18 knots Joel will have a good chance; if the wind is under 12, the others have a chance too."
He expects at least four National qualifiers from Tufts, but agrees that the New England race is still very unpredictable. Legler shares in the enthusiasm of his sailors at the single-handed elimination tournaments at Dartmouth and Yale and the Hood Trophy race, but recognizes the sharp contrast of what is in store for next weekend's Danmark Trophy regatta.
"It's difficult to predict how we will do next weekend. There are no conflicting regattas so all of the teams will have their best sailors ready to perform," Legler said. "It is difficult to predict how anyone will perform without knowing anything about the wind as of yet, but I hope Tufts will finish in the top five."
Along with the last chance qualifier for the nationals tournament this weekend, the sailors will also prepare for their headline race - the Danmark Trophy - which will take place Saturday at the Coast Guard academy in Connecticut.
