Tufts' co?ed and women's sailing squads, ranked No. 8 and No. 12, respectively, in Sailing World's latest bi?weekly coaches' poll, had a productive weekend with fleet and team races at Brown University, BU, UConn, Conn. College and at home.
For the women's team, sophomore Sara Makaretz and junior Natalie Salk of the A division joined junior Mariel Marchand and sophomore Polly Murray at Brown University in the Dellenbaugh Women's Regatta. The group finished with a cumulative placement of 11th out of the 18 competing teams over the three?day, 24?race event. Despite the finish, the group showed promise - Makaretz and Salk finished sixth in the A division and notched three top?five finishes and a third?place finish during the fifth race for a total of 89 points. Meanwhile, Marchand and Murray secured a top?four finish in the fourth race of the B division, earning 136 points to give both divisions a cumulative score of 225.
"Our A boat right now is really good and lighter [than before]," Makaretz said. "I think our women's team is getting better in every year. We're just trying to get a lot of good practice in before the Atlantic Coast Championships."
For the co?ed team, a strong showing by the A division and promising results from their B division culminated in a third?place finish at the in?conference BU Trophy competition. Competing against 17 other teams in eight races, the A Division squad, manned by freshman sailors Alec Ruiz?Ramon and Kate Levinson, highlighted the day with a victory in their sixth race to go along with three other top?four finishes, finishing with 43 points.
The B division team, initially anchored by freshman Duncan Swain and sophomore Julie Pringle, competed in the first six races, managing three top?five finishes, including a second?place finish in the third race. For the last two races, a sophomore duo of Charlie Proctor and Tori Porter took over, and the pair went on to finish the day with a victory in the final B Division race, closing out the afternoon with 52 points to give the Jumbos a cumulative score of 95.
At UConn, the Jumbos competed in three other races. Freshmen Dan Nickerson, Jamie Maffeo and Grace Olsen represented the Jumbos in the Southern Series Two, with Nickerson and Maffeo scoring 35 points in the A division while finishing in the top five in six of their eight races, including three victories.
Olsen, who represented the B division, padded the Jumbos' score, finishing with 32 points. Cumulatively, the group tied for first place with Roger Williams, but lost a head?to?head tiebreaker, placing second in the 20?team pool.
Also at UConn, sophomores Solomon Krevans, Eliza White and Cameron Barclift and freshman Mara Rettig dominated in the Tyrell Trophy competition, securing first place overall with a 22?point total. Krevans and White won five of eight races in the A division for 13 points, while Barclift and Rettig nearly swept all eight B Division races, placing second in only their last race, for a total of nine points.
Finally, in the team races, the co?ed A Division sailors saw action at the Southern New England Team Race at Conn. College, while the B team held its ground at home at the Mystic Lake Team Race. The A team ultimately placed seventh out of 12 teams, and the B?team was perfect in 14 races at home, going 9?0 in the first round and 5?0 in the third.
"[We're] way better than last year," coach Ken Legler said.
With a strong string of performances in both the fleet and team races this weekend, it seems the sailing teams are primed to make a splash in qualifying for nationals.
