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Teams: Co-Ed Sailing: Team
Overview
Visit the
team-operated Tufts Sailing website.
Visit the World Sailing College Rankings website
 Tufts University is one of the most renowned academic
institutions in the country. The Tufts Sailing team won the 2001
Inter-collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Dinghy National
Championship, and won more championships in the 1990s than any other
team. The combination of both makes Tufts an excellent choice for
prospective college sailors.
Now in his 24th season, Head Coach Ken Legler came to Tufts in the
fall of 1980 after coaching the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy team
for two years. He sailed at the University of Rhode Island and won
both the Dinghy and Team Racing Nationals there. His background
includes professional race management at the 470 Worlds, the U.S.
Olympic Trials, Key West Race Week and numerous other national
championships. He has attended many world championships as a
competitor, principal race officer, US Team Coach and head judge. He
also was inducted into the ICSA Hall of Fame.
Joe Duplin, the previous coach at Tufts from 1967-80, created a
program that was the envy of the college sailing world. Tufts
defended the Dinghy National Championship in Legler's first year,
then developed champion Women's and Team Racing units. Tufts won its
first Team Racing Nationals in 1984 and has challenged every year
since. In the 1990s, Tufts won two co-ed Singlehanded national
titles, four Team Racing Nationals and the 1997 Dinghy Nationals by
a record margin of 57 points.
Perhaps the main factor in the team's success is its competitive
practice sessions on Mystic Lake in Medford. Practicing at Tufts is
comparable to the best racing clinics. All the sailors know each
other and Legler is familiar with each sailor's strengths and goals.
Due to the amount of talent on the Tufts team, the level of sailing
at a Tufts practice is higher than at most college regattas. Pete
Levesque and Caroline Hall, both Tufts Class of 2003, were named
All-Americans as a skipper and crew, respectively. Some fall
practices are held on Boston Harbor and spring break practice is
usually at St. Mary's in Maryland. Nationals practice in May moves
to various sites all over New England and includes everyone who
wants to excel, not just the starters competing in that year's
Nationals.
The Tufts fleet is comprised of 20 Lark class dinghies, six lasers,
and two coach boats. Larks have become a signature for Tufts
Sailing. They are faster, more fun and much more responsive as
sailors adjust to the boat, wind and water. Top junior sailors
recognize that Larks are better, and the results in college and
world championships bear this out.
Located in Medford, Mass., Tufts is only five miles from Boston and
Cambridge, the mecca of college sailing. Within this radius lies the
hosting sites of Tufts, MIT, Harvard, Boston University and Boston
College. Coast Guard, Connecticut College, Rhode Island and Brown
are within two hours.
Sailing is a two-season sport at Tufts. With nearly 80 regattas in
the fall and 50 in the spring, Tufts sailors have the busiest
schedule of any team at any college. The team enters as many as nine
regattas per weekend including at least one freshmen event.
Application to Tufts takes place in the fall, with a deadline of
January 1. General admission candidates receive decisions in April.
Top sailors as well as other top athletes do receive some special
consideration. There are no athletic scholarships at Tufts, and no
sailing scholarships at any school. There are many academic
scholarships at Tufts, particularly for students with financial
need. There is also an ROTC program.
Legler grooms Tufts sailors for competitive success outside of
college racing. Six have become world champions and Magnus Gravare
was an Olympian in 1984. Nick Trotman, a 1994 Tufts grad, became the
first American skipper to win the 505 World Championships in 15
years in 1998. Several Jumbos have competed in the Goodwill Regatta
between the United States and Japan. Senet Bischoff was College
Sailor of the Year in 1996.
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