NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Tufts University women's sailing team needed to finish fifth today to qualify nationally and that's exactly what the Jumbos did.
Tufts was fifth out of eight teams at the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Women's Championship on the Thames River today. The top five teams advance to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association Championship coming up May 19-20 in Annapolis, Maryland.
Conditions were far from ideal for today's regatta. The day started with a NW breeze that shifted to the West and back to the North before the break. The sailors sat in postponement until the NW Breeze came back and finally came in from the North for the last set of races.
Teams were able to get eight races completed in one division. Tufts' 141 total score (61 in A, 80 in B) was comfortably ahead of sixth-place Roger Williams, which totaled 167. Brown University won the regional title with an 88 score.
Competing for Tufts in A division was Abbie Carlson with crews Jessica Friedman and Mallory Hood. Friedman was on board for seven of the eight races, with Hood taking over only for the fifth start. The A Jumbos were seventh overall with best finishes of second in the third race and fourth in the sixth.
For B's, Tufts had Chloe Holder at skipper with Cali Salinas as crew. They were 13th overall, managing two sixth-place finishes for their top performances.
Coast Guard, Boston College and Rhode Island will join Tufts and Brown as New England representatives at the national championship.
