The weekend before the Thanksgiving break, the sailing team had its last competition of the 2005 year. Senior sailor Zander Kirkland headed down to the Single Handed Nationals at the University of Hawaii Sailing Center. After 16 tough races against 16 of the top sailors from around the country, Kirkland finished in seventh place. Kirkland originally qualified for the national competition early in October when he finished second in the Single Handed New England Championships in Vermont.
"I was stoked out after the first race because I won it by half a leg," Kirkland said. "But things just didn't work out in later races."
Kirkland explained that the winds were a little strong for his weight and that he wasn't able to control the wind shifts well.
"The regatta didn't go so hot but at least I got to surf on the North Shore and do battle with some humongous waves," Kirkland said.
The Single Handed Nationals featured 16 of the top sailors from districts all over the country. The sailors sailed in lasers in the two-day event in a very tight and competitive regatta.
According to Kirkland, he was at a disadvantage because coach Ken Legler was unable to accompany him to the race.
"It would have been nice to have a coach come," he said. "Tufts didn't provide funding for us to go to nationals. We had to fundraise but the coach couldn't come with me. All the other sailors had coaches and it would have helped a lot."
The University started cutting the sailing team's budget a few years ago when Tufts was a national sailing powerhouse. Fortunately, the family of sophomore Katie Greenlee, a member of the team, provided Kirkland with a place to stay during his trip to the Pacific.
Kirkland expressed disappointment with the results of this race but said he was still extremely satisfied with the season as a whole.
"I am happy with how things turned out," Kirkland said. "It was good sailing even though I didn't do so well. The weather was warm and I got to go to Hawaii."
The sailing team has had a very productive fall season. Both the co-ed and the women's teams have qualified for the big regattas coming in the spring. Next semester, some of the toughest competition will come in the fleet racing regattas. The Jumbos are looking for a strong finish in New England's for fleet racing, which would qualify them for Nationals. For now, though, the fall season has come to a close with strong results, tremendous improvement among freshmen, and an increased national ranking as the squad looks towards the spring.
