NHS sailing team girds for postseason
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
Don't let the 1-8 record fool you. NHS sailing coach Nick Judson says the Whalers have a very good chance of making the postseason this year.

Annie Sager (left) and Tiffany Lee race off Newport in an early-season spring regatta.

"We have a very good shot of getting to a .500 record (and qualifying)," he said. "There are a couple of teams we'll be seeing for a second time this season, and I'm confident we can beat them."

Another reason for Judson's optimism is the steady improvement of his team, along with the quality of the competition his crews have faced so far.

"In the last two weeks, every team we've sailed against has been ranked in the top eight in New England," Judson noted, ticking off teams like Bishop Stang and Dartmouth, the number one ranked high school in New England.

To top things off, Nantucket faced Tabor Academy on Saturday, a perennial national champion. "The last time we sailed against Tabor was probably seven years ago," Judson said. "They sent over a very strong team this year, all seniors and sophomores, because the juniors were taking SATs."

Nantucket's run to the playoffs begins this weekend when Martha's Vineyard visits at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon and Rogers High School from Newport, R.I. comes in around 11 a.m. Sunday.

In between those regattas, on Saturday, Nantucket will host for the second straight year the New England Women's Fleet Racing Championships, with NHS sailors Annie Sager and Sarah Erichsen skippering the island contingent. The event features 15 high school teams, and some of the top women sailors in New England. "It's the only event of its kind in the U.S.," Judson pointed out.

All three regattas are best viewed at the end of the docks at the Nantucket Boat Basin.

The junior varsity team, meanwhile, has cruised to a 2-0 record. Judson credits his assistant of the last three years, Chad Hudnut, and the help of sailing veterans Sue Storey, Howe Constable and Neil Cocker with the progress of both teams. "I can see the confidence building in the younger sailors," Judson says.

He also relies on the experience of tri-captains Sager, Russell Bartlett and Maggie Andrews to lead the sailing Whalers during the

spring season's second half. I