The warm weather came at a fortunate time for the Tufts sailing team, which got its season into full swing this past weekend.
The Jumbos competed in nine different regattas, their busiest weekend of the season.
Unfortunately, it was also a rough one, as the team finished in the middle of the pack in eight of the nine events.
In the biggest co-ed event, Tufts finished eighth out of 18 at the Admiral's Trophy at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Teams competed in both V-15's and FJ's at the regatta.
Harvard won the event with 264 points, while Tufts finished with 438. Senior co-ed captain Joel Hanneman finished seventh in his division.
At the Dellenbaugh Trophy, held at Brown University, the women's team finished seventh out of 14 teams. Senior women's captain AJ Crane competed in the regatta's A division, finishing fifth with crewmate senior Kristen Tysell.
The finish was disappointing for the defending national champions.
Yale finished first, three points ahead of College of Charleston.
"This was our worst [weekend] of the year," coach Ken Legler said. "We finished in the middle of the pack. I expect us to do better next weekend. We did better last weekend."
Legler pointed to improved competition as the reason for the teams' finishes. Specifically, he indicated that the New England Ivy League teams have made great strides.
"Ten years ago the four New England Ivys had volunteer coaches," Legler said. "Now they [each] have two full-time coaches. It's really helped them with recruiting. And they've gotten some breaks in admissions."
"Those programs have gone from being very beatable to being very tough. That's why you saw us finish mid-fleet," Legler continued. "Sometimes they beat us, sometimes we beat them."
The team is looking forward to next weekend, when the women's team will compete in the New England Women's Championship. The event is an important warm-up as the team prepares for nationals.
Legler said that the team tries to build through the season towards nationals.
"Our toughest training is after finals," the coach said. "This year we only really have senior week to get ready."
In the weekend's other events, Tufts finished fifth out of 17 teams at the BU Trophy, fifth out of 11 at the Oberg Trophy, and ninth out of 18 at the Moody Trophy.
At the Saturday-only Metro Series IV at Tufts, the Jumbos entered two teams, finishing fifth and sixth out of 13.
The Jumbos took fourth place out of seven teams at the Coast Guard Academy and third out of four at the Eastern Series Sloop.
Tufts won the Gibb Trophy; finishing first out of five teams at the freshman event.
