The co-ed and women's sailing teams competed in five different regattas this past weekend. Seven Tufts sailors participated at the main co-ed event, the 73rd Annual Professor Schell Trophy at MIT, while six others raced at the women's event, the Victorian Coffee Urn at Harvard. Nine sailors were at the secondary co-ed event, the Dave Perry Trophy at Yale, and 18 freshmen sailors stayed in Medford for the Nickerson Trophy, hosted by Tufts. Finally, the third co-ed event, the Providence College Invite #2, featured four Jumbo sailors.
Tufts placed well in the events, including earning second at the Schell Trophy of 18 teams. Senior captain skipper Will Haeger and senior crew Paula Grasberger sailed in the A Division for Tufts, while junior skipper Alec Ruiz-Ramon and junior Sam Madden competed in the B Division. Tufts came in second with a team score of 102, only six points behind the winner, Dartmouth College.
The greatest success was placing second at the Schell, which was our qualifiers for the Atlantic Coast Championships, to be held [Nov. 16-17] at Charleston," Grasberger told the Daily in an email. "Our B division [boat] won, which went a long way towards getting us to second place, only a few points out of first."
The other big success from over the weekend was at home. Tufts won the Nickerson Trophy, an all-freshmen regatta, coming in first out of 13 teams. Skipper Griffin Rolander and Natalie Danziger sailed in the A Division, while skipper Sam Gates and Alex Tong raced in the B Division. Tufts had a team total of 55 points, which was six better than the second place team, Dartmouth College.
The women's team came in 14th place out of 18 teams at The Victorian Coffee Urn. Freshman skipper MaryClaire Kiernan, sophomore Kate Wasynczuk and senior captain Kathleen Kwasniak sailed in the A Division, while juniors Katie Levinson and Emily Lynn competed in the B Division. Levinson and Lynn came in sixth place in the B Division.
Finally, Tufts came in first place out of 10 teams at the Providence College Invitational #2. Senior skipper Ben Weigel and junior Hannah Duggan raced in the A division, and sophomore Rolfe Glover and junior Caitlin Durand sailed in the B Division.
Even though the teams had a lot of success over the weekend, there is always room for improvement, especially while adjusting to the new Bacow Sailing Pavilion.
"We just moved in to the new boathouse, which is super exciting, but it'll be important for us to get settled quickly and fall back into the routine we were able to have last year," Wasynczuk told the Daily in an email. "Communication on and within the team is going to be increasingly important, too. There are a lot of really talented upperclassmen on the team, and a lot of underclassmen with a lot of potential, and I think it's going to be important to be working to narrow that disparity in knowledge and experience."
The teams are excited to continue and finish their respective seasons strong. The co-ed team will compete at various races in New England this Saturday and Sunday before the Atlantic Coast Championship takes place in Charleston, S.C. on the weekend of Nov. 16.
"As the season comes to a close, I'm hoping to do well at ACCs," Grasberger said. "After a few rough weekends, it would be really nice to end the season on a strong note."
The next race for the women's team is the Atlantic Coast Championship during the same time frame, but its races are held at Cornell University.
"I'm really excited to keep sailing ? and to continue to learn as a team
