The Tufts sailing program is right back where it belongs, and where it has spent a large part of the past 30 years - at the top.
After a 2005 season in which the sailing team failed to get a boat to Nationals, the Jumbo sailors bounced back this year, sending delegates to Nationals in all divisions and in both the coed and women's division.
Nationals will take place from May 24-26 at Charleston, SC.
The Jumbos made the leap under the new leadership of interim coach Amanda Callahan, who took over for Ken Legley, who was out on medical leave this year.
"[Callahan] has done a great job with us so far," women's junior co-captain Emily Randall said. "She has really made a big difference."
The women's team qualified for Nationals on Apr. 22-23 by placing fifth in the New England Championship Reed Trophy at Boston College. The top five teams from that race qualified for Nationals. Sophomores Kaity Storck and Lindsey Gibbons-Neff finished fifth in the A division while juniors Gretchen Curtis, Randall, and Jen Giroux and sophomore Meredith Ginley split time to finish sixth in the B division.
"We're really psyched to have qualified for Nationals," Ginley said. "We're going to put in a lot of work and hopefully we'll do even better at Nationals."
The women's team continued its practice schedule through Senior Week in preparation for Nationals, and the Jumbos will leave tomorrow for Charleston.
The coed team will also head down South after a few extra days of practice. The squad qualified for Nationals by placing second behind host Yale at the New England Team Racing Championship Fowle Trophy on Apr. 29-30. The top three teams from that race - Yale, Tufts and Harvard - will represent New England at Charleston a few days after the women's regattas. Seniors Dave Siegal, Jeff Cruise and Zander Kirkland skippered while junior Anna Martin and sophomores Katie Greenlee and Chryssa Rask worked crew.
"It was a great accomplishment," Cruise said. "We trained all spring season. It was great to qualify for Nationals."
Tufts sailors tied for first at the regatta, only to lose to Yale in the tiebreaker.
"It was really close racing," Kirkland said. "We know what we have to improve on to be successful at Nationals."
Kirkland explained that he needed to work on getting off the line quickly.
"Once we start, we're good at making plays and going fast," he said. "We are looking to be a contender. We want to win Nationals.
Kirkland and Cruise also participated in the New England Dinghy Championship regatta at Brown University on May 6-7. Siegal and Martin raced in the A division to finish third behind Dartmouth and Boston College. Kirkland and Greenlee finished eighth in the B division, resulting in a combined sixth-place finish for the Jumbos.
"Dave [Siegal] sailed really well and kept us in it." Kirkland said. "I struggled with bad starts and issues holding my lane, but hopefully I can fix that for Nationals. Dave really put the hammer down."
While Tufts missed the top-four finish that would have earned it an automatic spot at Nationals, the team received an at-large bid instead based on its performance in the season.
The Jumbos will join Brown, Boston College, Harvard and Dartmouth in representing New England at the National Championships.
"[Getting an at-large big is] like a wild card," Cruise said. "We were trying to get it. The team that beat us, but didn't qualify [Yale, which finished fifth], didn't have a very good season so we were pretty confident that we were going to get it."
Kirkland will return as next year's captain along with Randall, Martin and Storck. The sailing team recently changed its captaincy from separate women's and coed captains to four team captains.
The team graduates several skippers, but will return the majority of its crew, whose experience will help the up-and-coming skippers to improve.
"I'm really happy with how this season has gone," Randall said. "Last year we didn't qualify for any Nationals, and this year we got in all three."
Kirkland shares Randall's enthusiasm.
"Next year we'll miss the graduating seniors dearly, but we look to reload and hold on to our place as a top-tier New England school," Kirkland said.
