The sailing team competed in four regattas this past weekend and raked in three top-10 finishes, an impressive finish for a team still in the early stages of its season.
The results were even more impressive considering one key change in the Jumbos' personnel: For the past week, sophomore Tomas Hornos, a seasoned skipper and key ingredient in the Jumbos' success, was in Portugal for the Snipe World Championships representing the United States.
Snipes are about two feet longer and a bit beamier than the Lark boats in which Tufts' sailors are accustomed to racing. However, the different dimensions did not deter Hornos, who along with Enrique Quintero was able to win a world championship by an incredible margin of 16 points in only three races.
In fact, the light and shifty conditions he faces most days on Mystic Lake during practice here at Tufts may have given Hornos an advantage, as the conditions at the World Championship were equally tricky.
Without Hornos, the Tufts sailors looked to continue their tradition of excellence on the water this past weekend. They traveled to a total of four regattas over the weekend: the Women's Mrs. Hurst Bowl at Dartmouth, the Lake Champlain Open at the University of Vermont, the Southern Series 2 Donaghy Bowl at Salve Regina, and the Hatch Brown Regatta at MIT.
At the Southern Series 2 Donaghy Bowl Regatta, the Jumbos checked in with a 10th-place finish, based on a 66-point performance by junior Hans Tiefenthaler and freshman Roisin Magee in the A division and a 46-point performance by seniors Jeff Jamison and Ian Oppenheim in the B flight. The 112 points placed them 80 behind the top squad from the University of Rhode Island.
In the incredibly competitive Hatch Brown Trophy Regatta at MIT, Tufts finished ninth overall. With 473 total points between Saturday and Sunday, the three Tufts boats were barely edged out by eighth-place Conn. College with 472 points, and were a mere three points behind the seventh-place Harvard with 470. The Yale Bulldogs drowned the competition, running away with the regatta by over 100 points.
"There were very tough conditions out on the Charles River," said junior Peter Bermudez, who skippered the B division boat for Tufts. "It was really hard to be consistent. The wind was all over the place, both in direction and strength. It was almost half luck and half keeping your head out of the boat and paying attention to everything else."
The tandem of junior tri-captain Baker Potts and senior Meredith Ginley led Tufts to an impressive third-place finish in the A division with 123 points. The two finished just two points behind second-place Vermont, though the top team from Yale was far in front.
"The conditions were really tough, but we were also short on personnel," Potts said. "And so, some of our skippers in the lower divisions weren't as experienced in sailing against the harder competition."
Sophomore Andrew Criezis stepped up and skippered the C division boat for the Jumbos, but inexperience and difficult conditions made it hard to be consistent on the water.
"I want to help Andrew and other less-experienced skippers to improve their starting and their handling of other boats such as Flying Juniors," Potts said.
Bermudez also agreed that improving his sailing of FJs was a personal goal, as well as becoming more accustomed to sailing in other places like the Charles River.
"I hope to improve every time I sail there," Bermudez said.
The strong Tufts team will certainly have to work hard if it wants to regain its former dominance of the collegiate sailing world. The potential is certainly there, with a talented group of freshmen currently learning the ropes, led by the experience of captains Potts, Ginley and senior Kaity Storck.
And based on previous years' performances, the Jumbos appear to be headed in the right direction early this season.
