Entering the midpoint of their season, the Tufts sailing team performed well during an unusually busy weekend. The two largest regattas the team entered were the Navy Fall Intersectionals and the New England Sloop Championships at Newport. The Jumbos were able to place in the top five in both races, which is impressive due to the strength of competition they were facing.
The Navy Intersectional regatta was an important race for the Jumbos. The Jumbos' depth was evident in their ability to place a close second despite having their top skippers racing at the Sloops.
"The team did fantastic," Legler said of his sailors' performances.
Team members alike were pleased with the outcomes.
"It was a big regatta for us, and we were happy with our performance," junior John Birkett said. "Losing to Georgetown by a twenty point margin is not very big for a four division race."
While all participants had solid outings, senior Adam Deermount impressed his teammates with a dominant performance in the fourth race. He won his division by a large margin (13 points) over second place Georgetown that race.
"I thought everybody on the team sailed well, especially our captain Adam Deermount, who dominated and ended up winning his division," Birkett said.
"He's very skilled at sailing in light winds," added Legler.
While Tufts was able to sail a strong race, Harvard and Dartmouth finished unusually low in the standings for their national ranking, taking twelfth and thirteenth place respectively.
"The low finish was because they don't have much depth," Legler said of his opponents' misfortunes. "It isn't very becoming of the top national teams, but unfortunately the teams aren't ranked according to depth."
While the team had an excellent performance at the Navy Fall Intersectional, the strong sailing was not wide spread this weekend. Participating in the Sloop Championships, Tufts hoped to place in one of the top two spots, which would allow them to qualify for nationals. Unfortunately, the team faltered in their first day of racing and ended up placing fourth.
"We really hoped that we would qualify," Legler said.
"We were somewhat disappointed with our performance this past weekend at the New England Championships," sophomore Joel Hanneman said. "We knew we were up against tough competition. It basically came down to the first day when things didn't quite come together."
Tufts was unable to get ahead in the first six races of the Sloops on the first day, falling behind Harvard and Dartmouth, who are more experienced with the Sloops racing. Though the Jumbos were able to begin winning on the second day of the races, the wind died down, canceling the rest of the race and eliminating any chance of a victory.
Instead, Harvard and Dartmouth took the top two spots, basically eliminating Tufts from its chances of winning the Fawle Trophy as well. This cup is given to the team with the best performance in the six national tournaments of the fall and spring sailing season. After winning in 1998, Legler was hopeful that his team could recapture the trophy.
As for the effect of this weekend's racing on the national co-ed rankings, Tufts will probably not change positions much. The Sloop Championship was only between New England schools, so it would not affect the school in comparison to other schools nation wide. The strong performance at Navy will also help Tufts hold onto third place ranking in the national standings.
While the Sloops and Navy Invite headlined the busy weekend for the Jumbos, the team participated in multiple other minor regattas, highlighted by a win in the Wood Trophy at Harvard. Tufts jumped ahead early in the race and edged out MIT for a first place win.
"I knew we'd do well in the Wood because of our depth," Legler said.
The Wood featured few races mainly due to the light wind conditions that plagued the team throughout the weekend.
"Fortunately, it still went well for us," senior Lee Icyda said.
While the co-ed team held their own this weekend, the women's team continued their slight slump. Resting its top string sailors this weekend, Tufts took eighth place in a thirteen-team intersectional this weekend at Yale.
"Unfortunately, we're still struggling in the B team," Legler said.
He was not concerned, however, about the women's teams' recent performances, hoping they will soon return to their usual strong sailing.
