"Average" is not a term typically used to describe the sailing team.
However, based on the standards the team has set for itself over the years and for the first month and a half of the fall season, this past weekend could be described as mediocre at best.
The Jumbos sailed to two sixth-place finishes this weekend at the Sherman Hoyt Trophy Regatta at Brown and the Oberg Trophy Regatta, as well as a seventh-place finish at the Central Series Five Regatta at BC and an eighth-place finish at the Women's Stu Nelson Regatta at Conn. College. There were between 16 and 18 teams sailing at each event.
Junior tri-captain Baker Potts skippered the A division boat for Tufts at the Sherman Hoyt, with his fellow captain, senior Meredith Ginley, as crew. The veteran duo finished 10th in its division with 96 of Tufts' 159 total points, a number Potts and Ginley had been hoping to keep lower.
"We were over early at the start twice," Potts said. "So we had to go back and restart both of them, putting us at an early disadvantage."
In sailing, if a boat is over the starting line early, it's almost guaranteed to be in last place when it restarts the race - it's very difficult to return to the line when the other boats are off to the races. It's hard to recover from such a disadvantaged situation.
Finishing a mere four points behind fourth-place finisher St. Mary's, and three points behind fifth-place Old Dominion, those callbacks were extremely significant in the overall finish of the team.
"We also had some unlucky races," Potts said. "One race we went to the right side of the course, and then there was a big shift to the left and we were stuck in a bad position. We just didn't get the wind the best."
Though the big shifts didn't bode well for the A division sailors, the B division boat was able to stay more consistently on top and bring Tufts' overall position from 10th to sixth.
Sophomore Tomas Hornos took the reins with junior Lara Hwa as crew in the B division boat. After a solid performance in the single-handed Laser last week at the Navy Fall Final, Hornos switched back to sailing double-handed and was equally if not more successful. Hornos and Hwa tallied 63 points, good enough for a third-place finish in their division. The 63 points included three bullets, or race victories, in only 10 races.
But despite avoiding the few mishaps that plagued the duo's A division teammates, Hornos and Hwa weren't able to steer clear of the same unreliable wind conditions.
"The conditions were light, shifty and variable," Hornos said. "You had to try to position yourself in order to take advantage of the shifts, but it was hard because of such unpredictable wind. In order to do well, you had to have good positioning, but also get a lot of luck."
The Jumbos may have had some luck in their sixth-place finish out of 18 boats, but it surely wasn't luck that got them to this year's ACC Championship, the fall season's final regatta.
The Jumbos' finish at the Sherman Hoyt Regatta was enough to solidify their bid in the ACC Championship, to be held at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla. later in the fall. The top 18 teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference will travel to St. Petersburg to claim rights over the coastal waters as the best collegiate team in the conference. The championship bid is a big accomplishment for Tufts in continuing the program's tradition of excellence in Div. I sailing.
"We're really excited," Potts said. "The season's not over yet."
Next weekend, the Jumbos will divide and conquer, sending sailors to a total of six different regattas, including the Schell Trophy Regatta at MIT.
