Tufts University hosted the Women's New England Championship, where teams competed for the Reed Trophy. The regatta boasted nine of the top 15 women's teams in the country, so it was a particularly challenging meet. Additionally, extremely windy conditions made it a very difficult course. Amherst finished 13th out of 16 teams. However, they did overcome Williams College, Maine Maritime University and McGill University.
Sailing for the Jeffs' A team were Nadine Krupinski '03 and Joann Nguyen '03, while the B team consisted of Emily Fleury '01 and Robin Goldman '03.
The Western Series II race at Trinity College was also held on Saturday. Despite fielding two very inexperienced boats, the race was extremely successful for the Jeffs. Jason Blynn '04 and Jon Shartar '03 won the A division as they jumped to an early lead with first-place finishes in the opening two races, and strong top-three finishes for the remainder of the day.
Amherst hosted the Little IIIs on Sunday afternoon and reclaimed their title for the second time in three years. Of the 15 times the race has been held, Amherst has claimed six titles.
This time around, Amherst fielded two boats, which each won three races out of six, beating the competition by incredible margins with a score of 20. Williams posted a 49, while Wesleyan University trailed with 69 points.
"I was glad that we were able to win in my senior year," said Peter Beardsley '01. Beardsley sailed one of the boats along with Bian Yu '03, while the other boat was sailed by Jay Harris '02 and Eunjoe Ahn '04.
Coming up next weekend is the New England Dinghy Tournament at the University of New Hampshire, a qualifying race for the New England Championship. The Jeffs finished fifth at the meet last year.