While lakes thaw, squad focuses on intense dry land training

Winter may be having a tough time saying goodbye, but the Jumbo sailing team isn't waiting.

Despite Mother Nature's recently unconvincing acts, spring and warmer weather are around the corner. The change in seasons will soon reveal the waters of seasonally frozen Mystic Lake and set the stage for the second half of the sailing team's split season.

Tufts, nationally ranked fifth in the coed division and fourth in women's, has been working since the fall in preparation for the spring season. Despite the local rivers and lakes being covered in ice for the past three months, Tufts has found other ways to maintain excellence in the off-season.

"During the winter, we held team racing meetings to discuss racing strategy," sophomore Alex Singer said. "Coach also arranged a training program with the trainers, where we did on-land training, weights, and cardio [workouts]."

While it may not be obvious, sailors rely heavily on lower abdominal muscles while leaning over the sides of the quick-moving boats. They also require strong thighs and arms, all of which were on the off-season training program.

The team will start on-lake practices after spring break.

When practice does get underway, longtime coach Ken Legler insists the team stick to racing one-another, an unorthodox strategy that steers clear of drilling fundamentals, yet nonetheless reaps rewards.

"All we do in practice is race," sophomore Greg Kastan said. "[Legler] doesn't think there is a substitute for simulating an actual race."

Practice and a few regattas will take place at Tufts' boathouse, located alongside Mystic Lake, which is a quick five minute drive from the northwest corner of the Medford campus. Each practice the Jumbos set sail for a few hours on the small, but challenging waters.

"The lake makes for tricky conditions because the wind is never coming from a constant direction," Singer said. "It's pretty shifty because the lake is so small, but it's good practice because you have to keep looking for wind shifts."

Practice varies slightly from fall to spring, because the spring season sees more head-to-head team races, compared to multi-school fleet races in the fall. Because the days are later in the spring, the team doesn't need to attach flashlights to the top of the boats' masts and use lighted markers on the lake like it does in the fall.