On both Saturday and Sunday, the University of Massachusetts team, which is very experienced, put up the strongest competition for the Jeffs. Sailing in the A division for Amherst were Adam McClay '03 and Nick Echelbarger '04. It was Echelbarger's first race, and the pair's sailing improved over the day.
UMass took the A division, while Babson College would have swept the B division. But Babson left before signing RP forms, a type of scorecard, and by rule, 20 points were added to their scores in each division, as a result. This serious error allowed the Amherst B division boat sailed by Jason Blynn '04 and Robin Goldman '03, to take first place.
On Easter Sunday the team enjoyed a perfect day of sailing for the Western Series I regatta that was postponed from April 7. The A division boat, with Graham Dumas '04 and Ann Solomon '04, beat out Williams College for second place behind UMass. The Amherst B division boat was manned by Eric Vennemeyer '04 and Matthew Willis '04.
"The team is getting a lot better as a unit and feeling much faster than in previous races," said Dumas.
Next weekend, the team will compete in the Oberg Trophy at MIT, which is a very difficult race. On Sunday the Jeffs will race at Lake Arcadia against Williams, among others.