This weekend, the co−ed sailing team dominated the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association's Sloop Championship, capturing the regatta's White Trophy in a performance that earned the team a spot in November's Sloop Nationals, which will be held in San Francisco.
The win marked the Jumbos' first in the Sloop Championship since 2004 and was a remarkable showing from the entire team, which went 11−1 overall on Saturday afternoon, and captured six of seven round robin race victories.
On Saturday, junior tactician Albert Nichols was joined by three sophomores, trimmer Maggie Bacon, skipper Will Haeger and foredeck David Liebenberg in the four−person boat. The team, which has been loosely assembled since late spring, did not begin real practices with one another until the fall.
"We weren't really expecting anything," Nichols said. "We had done a fair amount of practicing and this was something that we've wanted to do for a while."
The four−person team had been looking forward to this regatta since narrowly missing a victory last season.
"Last year, we had a pretty good go at it but we missed qualifying [for Nationals] by a couple of spots because a lot of other schools had a lot of good seniors," he said. "This year we came back with a great team and more practice. Our goal was to dominate the event, so we achieved that. Our eyes are now set on nationals."
As light winds picked up speed, so did the Jumbos, who were the only group to advance to the semifinals after just two races.
Tufts handily defeated Mass Maritime 2−0, while Conn. College, Maine Maritime and Roger Williams won third races against defending national champion Boston College, Brown and Yale, respectively, in order to advance.
"There were a lot of good teams there," Nichols said. "It was very light wind and we hadn't practiced as a team in the boat we were in, so we had to get accustomed to the boat and the weather. It wasn't necessarily an easy victory, but we were a little more prepared than everyone else and executed a lot better."
In Tufts' subsequent semifinal matchup, the team defeated Maine Maritime, again requiring only two races to advance to the finals against Roger Williams, which defeated Conn. College in a hotly contested 2−1 battle.
Due to time constraints, however, the Jumbos and Hawks were unable to complete the final races, and Tufts, the No. 1 seed, won the regatta by default. Roger Williams, however, will join the Jumbos at Nationals, the second of just two New England teams to qualify.
While Tufts will surely have some adjusting to do before Nationals in November, Nichols is confident that the team's dynamism and ability to adapt will give the Jumbos the edge they need to make a statement on the national stage.
"We will be in different boats [at Nationals], which will be a little different," he said. "The weather in San Francisco will either be light air and really cold, or really windy and really cold, but we're pretty versatile in that we showed we can do really well in light air."
"The regatta we sailed earlier this fall, it was pretty heavy air and we also won that," Nichols said. "We're feeling pretty confident. The four of us on the boat all have different experiences. [Liebenberg] is from the West Coast and has sailed a lot in San Francisco."
Now, the team finds itself more focused than ever, as the Jumbos set their sights on their trip to San Francisco. In San Francisco, the four−person team will take on nine other boats in a series of individual races.
"It's a little bit different style of racing in that it is much more tactical and much more intense," Nichols said. "There are sometimes collisions, and it's much more one−on−one than most sailing."
Nichols also has a strong appreciation for the rich history of Tufts sailing.
"Tufts has the most national championships in sailing out of any school, the most All−Americans second to Navy, and most world champions in sailing out of any school, but this is the only national championship we have not won," he said.
Over the weekend, Tufts also finished second for the Hood Trophy, and third at the Regis Bowl, a women's only regatta hosted by Boston University.
"Overall it was a great weekend across the board for the team. We achieved success in all of the races," junior Natalie Salk said. "We're all really excited for them to compete in Nationals. It means a lot to the whole team."
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Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to David Liebenberg as the four-deck, instead of the foredeck.
