Sailing teams turn in competitive performances across New England

Both the co-ed and women's sailing teams went out for a packed weekend schedule. The co-ed team raced in the Hatch Brown Trophy, the Nicholas Barnett Trophy and the Donaghy Bowl, while the women’s side sailed in the Regis Trophy. Meanwhile, both teams sent sailors to the two-day New England Singlehanded Championships at Boston College.

The co-ed team finished third out of 17 competing teams at the Hatch Brown Trophy. The regatta was shortened because of poor wind conditions on the Charles River throughout Saturday and early Sunday morning.

“Sailing depends on the weather conditions a lot," coach Ken Legler said. "Occasionally, you will get this kind of weather when some of or all the boats cannot compete. Five knots is usually the minimum requirement. For last weekend, even on Sunday afternoon, there were only light winds, so only the Flying Junior (FJ) boats competed. But I think our FJ skippers and crew did a good job even in unfavorable weather conditions. Actually, I think all sailors for our team should learn how to deal with relative extreme weather conditions — be it super light wind or heavy wind."

Among the Tufts sailors, the B division performed best. Senior skipper Jackson McCoy and junior crew Emma Clutterbuck won their first race and subsequently placed sixth and third to finish second overall.Tufts' A division team, made up of senior skipper Cam Holley and senior crew and co-captain Ian Morgan, finished sixth.In the C division, senior co-captain Jack Bitney skippered with senior Taylor Hart as crew.The duo finished tenth overall, with the highlight of the weekend being a second-place result in the final race.

Meanwhile, three Jumbos raced in New England Singlehanded Championships, a two-day regatta hosted by Boston College. Sophomore Matthew Keller placed 12th out of 20 sailors on the men's side. The Geneva, Switzerland native had a difficult start, coming in 17th and 14th in the first two races of the event, respectively. Despite the early setbacks, Keller responded well by recording fifth- and sixth-place finishes later in the weekend.

On the women's side, two Tufts sailors performed well in the field of 11 competitors.First-year Abbie Carlson finished fourth overall, which qualified her for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association Singlehanded Championships, scheduled for Nov. 2–4. Carlson raced well throughout the weekend, recording top-five finishes in five of 11 races. Going into the final race of the regatta, she was level on points with Brown junior Hannah Steadman and led Boston College senior Isabella Loosbrock by just two points.

“Right before the last sail, I realized that it all comes down to this one race," Carlson said. "Our ranking scores were so close to each other. Me, [senior] Talia [Toland] and the other two sailors, our score difference [was] within five points, I believe. I [was] actually pretty nervous before the race ... But once the race [started], the nervous feeling got away, and I started to focus on every drag and hick out. I felt all my pressure released after winning my one and only race during the entire weekend, and it took me to the Nationals."

Toland, however, missed the cut to qualify by only two points. While she placed in the top-five six times, Toland's two eleventh-place finishes made qualifying difficult. The Kirkland, Wash. native entered the last race in fourth place — five points ahead of Carlson and Steadman — but an eleventh-place finish dropped her to seventh overall.

At the Nicholas Barnett Trophy in Brunswick, Maine, Tufts' teams finished second and seventh of 17. Both the A and B division entries for the "Jumbos 2" team came in with 75 points to finish a combined second overall. Senior skipper Christopher Keller and senior crew Sarah Bunney navigated the other team's B division boat to three first-place finishes.

At the Regis Trophy, hosted by Boston University, Tufts came in 11th and 13th out of 16 teams. The B division of the Jumbos' top team finished eighth overall to record the team's best result of the weekend. The boat was skippered by sophomore Leyla Senocak, with junior Margaret Veltri as crew.

Finally, at the Donaghy Bowl, hosted by UConn, Tufts clinched a second-place finish in the eight-team field. The B division team of first-years Ryutaro Sochi and Mallory Hood tied for first after recording 13 points thanks to a pair of first-place finishes.

The Jumbos will continue their busy schedule with five regattas this weekend. The co-ed team is set to host the Hood Trophy on Mystic Lake, while the women's side will compete in the Mrs. Hurst Bowl at Dartmouth.