Last week, the co-ed sailing team earned a national semifinals berth thanks to a hard-fought regatta at Conn. College. On Saturday, less than 60 miles away, the women's team followed suit, securing a spot in the upcoming ICSA National Championship semifinals with a fifth-place finish out of 13 teams at the New England Championships on the water in Providence, R.I.
A stellar performance in the B Division ultimately gave the Jumbos their slot in the semifinals. Senior skipper Peggy Tautz, junior crew Margaret Rew and senior crew Jennifer Watkins all teamed up to give Tufts an eight-point victory in the B Division. It was a consistently strong weekend for the trio, in which they nailed down two runner-up finishes and two victories, including one in the last race, which gave them the 39-point total necessary to capture first.
Rew, who raced in the first six races, and Watkins, who took over for the final four, were instrumental for the B Division boat, which finished below fourth in just two of the 10 races. Though a gorgeous first day gave way to a drizzly, damp start to Sunday's races, it did not phase the victorious B boat.
"We had pretty good conditions, so that helped I think," Watkins said. "We had good starts a lot of the time and tried to make gains when we were behind and keep a solid lead when we were ahead.
"We paid a lot of attention to the wind and current and kept our heads out of the boat to be aware what was going on the race course," she continued. "Once we figured out that the left was where you wanted to be, that worked well and we caught on sooner than other people."
The A Division boat, meanwhile, did not fare comparatively as well, but Tufts ended up finishing eighth in the division with 76 points, more than good enough to give the Jumbos the semifinal spot. Junior skipper Catherine Swanson led the way for the A Division, sailing in all 10 races and teaming up with sophomore Katie Booras, junior captain Meghan Pesch and junior Sara Carnahan along the way. Tufts' best finish was a second-place showing in the seventh race, as the Jumbos finished in the top five three times over the course of the weekend.
The Jumbos ultimately ended up in a fifth-place tie with Yale at 115 points overall, but since Tufts outdistanced the Bulldogs in 11 of the 20 total races, they were awarded fifth and consequently a bid to the semifinals in Wisconsin in late May. The national finals take place at the same venue shortly thereafter.
"It was really exciting," Watkins said. "I don't normally sail on the women's team, but they've been working hard and, for us, getting to Nationals is the ultimate goal. Having one of the qualifying spots for semis shows that all that hard work is paying off."
With its own semifinal bid locked up the weekend prior, members of the co-ed sailing team captured a third-place finish out of 18 teams at the Admirals Cup in Kings Point, N.Y. Racing in three divisions, the Jumbos tuned up appropriately for next weekend's ICSA Semi-Final Dinghy Championships at Charleston, S.C., as the squad edged out St. Mary's by just one point.
Over the course of 18 races, seniors Rachael Brill and Tomas Hornos sailed in the A Division and took home a fourth-place finish. Sailing in 420s on the first day and in FJs on the second, the pair had a trio of second- and third-place showings in the races. Brill and Hornos finished in the top 10 on 14 separate occasions, earning 128 total points, just two behind third-place College of Charleston.
In a rare three-division regatta, freshman Will Hutchings single-handedly sailed a laser boat in the C Division, capturing fourth place with 112 points. Hutchings kicked off the regatta with a win in the first race and followed it up with another win in race 12. All told, the first-year finished outside the top nine just twice.
"Any weaknesses we had on the first day were due to the temperature," Brill said. "It felt like 70 degrees, and all of a sudden the wind picked up and the temperature dropped and we just froze. Will got really cold and when you're that cold, it's pretty hard to concentrate."
The B Division boat of senior co-captain Andrew Criezis and rookie Mariel Marchand, sailing in FJs on Saturday and 420s on Sunday, took home 10th place. The highlight for the pair was second-place showings in races seven and 10, though they faltered toward the regatta's end, finishing outside the top 10 in four of the last five races as well as receiving a disqualification in the eighth race.
"Andrew and Mariel don't normally sail together, but Mariel is up-and-coming and did an awesome job," Brill said. "There was no wind on the first day, so everyone was laying out and tanning on the dock, and then at 2:45 we went out and all of a sudden the wind picked up to 20 knots. So in FJ's in the B Division they were doing really well against people who had heavier combinations. It was really nice to see them being really competitive."
Hobart & William Smith won the regatta with 276 points, well ahead of runner-up College of Charleston, which finished with 333.
With their semifinal bid all wrapped up, members of the co-ed squad will have to place inside the top nine at Charleston to have a shot at the Gill National Dinghy Championships in early June at the University of Wisconsin. For now, though, the focus is all on the semifinals this weekend, where the Jumbos believe they have a good shot to reach nationals.
"I don't want to say anything to jinx it, but I think if both A and B Division are on top of our game, we have a pretty good chance," Brill said. "The wind [in Charleston] is pretty consistent; it's definitely not shifty like it is at quarterfinals. It's a little different from what we're used to, but as long as we have good boat speed and are smart about our races I think we're in good shape."
