Jumbo sails dominate the Charles

Rainy weather and chilly spring temperatures couldn't stop the co-ed sailing team from continuing its winning ways.

After finishing first at the Atlantic Coast Monotype Invitational last week, the co-ed team finished second out of 14 boats at the Boston Dinghy Club Cup last weekend. The women's team also competed, finishing seventh out of 14 at the Women's Duplin Trophy. The events were hosted by Harvard and Tufts, respectively.

Sailing on the Charles River in Boston, the co-ed team was looking for a high finish going in.

"We were expecting to finish in the top three," senior women's captain AJ Crane said. "Especially sailing on the Charles because we're familiar with it. We were hoping to win."

Crane and crewmate Kristen Tysell sailed in the co-ed regatta despite finishing first at last year's women's nationals. Crane said that this shift indicated a greater focus on the co-ed team.

The wind on Saturday was medium to light, conditions which generally benefit Tufts. Practicing on Mystic Lake has made Tufts' sailors more adept at negotiating lighter winds than teams that practice on rivers or in the ocean.

"As a whole, the team generally does well in those conditions," Crane said. "We're physically a pretty small team, so we do better than some others."

Racing was cancelled on Sunday due to bad weather and a lack of wind, costing Tufts a chance to catch Harvard for first place.

"We would have liked to sail on Sunday, to maybe catch Harvard," Crane said. "We were down [39] points, which is a lot to make up, but I think we could have won our division."

Crane and Tysell ended up finishing ten points behind Harvard for first place in their division, 48-58. They were hurt by a disqualification in the second race for hitting another boat after having led the race early on. The disqualification gave them 16 points.

Tufts finished in the top three in all four divisions, and senior captain Joel Hanneman and junior Elizabeth Haddad won their division with 39 points. Overall, Tufts finished with 200 points, second behind Harvard's 161.

In the women's regatta, Tufts finished seventh with 105 points, despite finishing sixth in each of the two divisions. Dartmouth placed first, winning both divisions and finishing with 55 points. Sailing was cancelled on Sunday for the women as well due to a lack of wind.

The women's team is racing next week in FJ's at the Women's President's Trophy at Boston University. The co-ed team is hosting the Friis Trophy Team Race.