Disqualification lands Tufts in third place at the Danmark Trophy

This past weekend left the sailing team with mixed results after the Women's Singlehanded Championship at MIT and the Coed Danmark Trophy at the US Coast Guard Academy. The Jumbos faired better in the Danmark Trophy contest, where they sailed to a third place finish. The women meanwhile had a disappointing 12 place finish out of 24 teams at the Singlehanded Championships.

The 12 races of the Championship were integral to those wishing to advance in the post season. The top five sailors qualified to go to the National Championships. Starting the competition with 43 single handed sailors, the first day of competition saw the field trimmed to 24 as 19 sailors were eliminated

With a westerly wind of 15 to 25 mph on the first day and an east-southeasterly wind at 10 to 25 mph confronting the sailors on the second day, the weather proved harsh on the water. The differing directions of the wind could have contributed to the several mishaps each day, with eight capsizes the first day and two swamps the second day.

Yale and Conn. College prevailed through the obstacles, as they fought for first place throughout the competition. In the end, the Bulldogs emerged victorious with 82 points. Connecticut College trailed in second place by a mere three points with Harvard at third place (95).

Harvard, as many predicted, had a good showing for the first time this season. After underachieving for a month, Harvard had three sailors finish in the top five, taking the third, fourth, and fifth spots. Settling into a groove that Harvard previously settled into was Dartmouth who had a surprisingly disappointing showing. Of the three sailors entered in the race, two finished in the bottom three at 22 and 24, the best finish being at seventh place.

For the Jumbos, visions of first place seemed out of sight. Junior AJ Crane sailed in division A and finished in the middle of the pack with mediocre results (150). Sophomore Lindsay Shanholt finished close to Crane (180), while senior Clare Dooley finished toward the bottom of the standings (194).

Meanwhile at the Danmark Trophy, there were two divisions, A and B, both featuring 18 races. Harvard continued to show their true potential this weekend, finishing first overall (78). It was in this regatta that Tufts shone, garnering a third place finish amongst the 18 teams competing. Seniors Pete Levesque and Caroline Hall sailed in Division A, finishing third (123), with Tufts finishing first three times and being disqualified once. The disqualification came on the grounds of the starboard port rule, which states that when two ships are too close and turning the starboard boat has the right of way.

"We were disqualified because we supposedly did not follow the starboard port rule," said Hall. "We protested after the race, because we thought that we were not on the port side. As we were turning, we reached our starboard side before we turned."

In Division B, Tufts finished fourth (125) with St. Mary's College taking first (112), Harvard taking second (117) and Dartmouth ninth (169). Division B was headed by seniors JR Maxwell and Deane Madsen. Tufts finished first four times giving them a finish of first place 7 of 36 times. Strong outgoing currents had an impact on the results and certainly made sailing this past weekend much more complex.

"The shifty winds made the race much harder than it should have been," said Hall. "We had a good start but a lousy finish, although we finished third, it didn't feel like third because of the wind."

Next week the Tufts Coed sailing team goes at it at the Hap Moore Trophy at Coast Guard, while the Tufts Women's sailing team goes to the Women's Intersectional at Navy.