Coming off a strong second-place finish at the Marchiando Team Race, the coed sailing team entered the New England Team Racing regatta with a concrete goal: to qualify for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association Team Racing National Championship. The team accomplished that goal, coming in fourth place to grab the final qualifying spot.
"We knew that we could do it," junior Sam Madden said.
The team ended the race with an 11-5 record, finishing behind Roger Williams University(13-3), Yale (13-3) and Boston College (11-5). These teams, including Tufts, will represent the region at the Team Racing National Championship, which takes place from May 31 to June 2 in St. Mary's City, Md. This is an extremely important feat for head coach Ken Legler, as this is his first appearance in the Team Racing Nationals since 2010. The Jumbos have missed the cut by one point each of the past two years, making this qualification even sweeter. The sailing team has won five Team Racing Nationals, the last one in 1996.
"It [has] been four years since Tufts qualified last for Team Race Nationals," Madden said. "We've been working really hard at this [goal], and we finally have got the team with the right chemistry to do it."
The New England Team Racing regatta was split into two rounds, with the top-six teams from the first round advancing to the final round. Tufts finished the first round with a record of 8-3, which was good enough to advance to the finals. The Jumbos had some mixed results in the final round, posting a record of 3-2. The wins came over the New England champion, Roger Williams University, Dartmouth and Harvard. The losses came against two teams that finished ahead of Tufts in the final standings, Yale and Boston College. The fifth place team, Dartmouth, ended the regatta with a record of 8-8.
"Our coach [Ken Legler] told us we needed [the Roger Williams] win to significantly improve our chances of qualifying," Madden said. "We finished the race with a win over Roger Williams. We sailed down to the dock, and Ken was standing on the pier pumping his fists in the air, and that was ... the moment when we knew that everything we'd been working for, for the last month or so, had come true."
Eight sailors competed for Tufts at Connecticut this weekend: three skippers and five crews. The three skippers were senior tri-captains Will Haeger and David Liebenberg, along with junior Alec Ruiz-Ramon. The five crews were senior Paula Grasberger, senior tri-captain Kathleen Kwasniak, freshman Scott Barbano, Madden and freshman Alex Tong.
Despite the positive results, the Jumbos still feel they can improve as they continue the season.
"We are still making small mistakes," Madden said. "The way you win [Team Racing Nationals] is by being the team that makes the [fewest] number of mistakes and sails the smartest. We're fortunate that New England is a very competitive area and also that all the teams that qualified are pretty close by."
With the Team Racing Nationals over a month away, Tufts will benefit from continued competition against some of the best teams in the country.
"We plan to continue practicing and sparring with [Boston College], Roger [Williams University], and Yale over the next month and a half, and so hopefully when we show up at Nationals we've got a lot of practice and we're ready to win," Madden said.
Although Nationals are now the team's biggest focus, the Jumbos still have several regattas before they head to St. Mary's, including the Truxtun Umsted Trophy at Navy on April 12 followed by the Admiral's Cup at Kings Point on April 19. The regattas and additional practice time means that the Jumbos will have plenty of time to prepare before attempting to win their first championship since 1996.
