STEADY AS SHE GOES
FOR HIGH SCHOOL SAILING PROGRAM
BY STEVE SHEPPARD INDEPENDENT SPORTS EDITOR
With the wind steady at 15 miles per hour and gusts to 27, sailing coach Nick Judson knew the squad probably wouldn't make it out on the water for an early season practice last Friday, but then he wouldn't discount the possibility either.

PHOTOS BY ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent There were signs of spring at Children's Beach last Friday as the high school sailing team prepared for the upcoming season. At left, Nellie Morley, Liz Skokan and Marlee \Thompson put their legs - and back - into it, while Tiffany Lee and Ben Rives (in foreground) ready a mast. Coach Nick Judson (below) keeps an eye on the goings on.

"It's a real challenge," he said of sailing's spring schedule. "It can be blowing 30 out there, it can be snowing - and we're sailing."

As it turned out the team didn't sail, with conditions being more favorable to prepping the fleet of 420s than taking them out on the water.

No matter what the conditions, however, student turnout for the sport continues to grow, with 28 sailors signed up for the varsity and junior varsity squads. The numbers are significant when you consider that sailing as a varsity sport is just entering its eleventh year. Before that - before the birth of Nantucket Community Sailing, of which Judson is executive director - a Nantucket kid wanting to sail pretty much had to go out and do it on his own. Sailing now is accessible to any and all islanders, as was the idea when Nantucket Community Sailing was started in 1995.

"The awareness of sailing has increased dramatically," Judson agrees, giving credit to former NCS executive director Anne Marie Fredericks for getting the high school program off the ground. "She really pushed to get it started," he said.

And once the sport was introduced to high schoolers, they didn't require a hard sell - sailing and Nantucket was a natural fit.

As it has been ever since. "In the early years we had kids whose parents had sailing backgrounds or kids who'd never played sports before," Judson recalled. "Now, we have soccer players, field hockey players and a lot of swimmers on the team. We've always had an eclectic mix."

With each successive year, more students are coming to the sport with prior sailing experience. On this year's team, for example, two freshmen, Adam Ceely and Matt Fabiszak, have already taken part in races. "This team has some great potential," Judson noted. "It's one of the strongest we've had in the past few years."

Anchoring the squad are the three senior captains: Nellie Morley, Marlee Thompson and Russell Bartlett. "They are really focused on going out with a bang this year," Judson said. "What's great about this team is we have phenomenal crews, many of whom can also skipper. Nellie Morley, one of our captains, is crew, for example."

The team will gear up for the season this weekend when eight team members will travel to the Hyannis Yacht Club for a "Raise the Sail" clinic with collegiate and Olympic-caliber sailors. Accompanying the three team captains for the intensive training will be Ceely, Fabiszak, Sarah Erichsen, Brian Chitester and Tiffany Lee.

After that, the season begins with home races next Tuesday against Sandwich. Another thing that's changed from sailing's early days as a varsity sport is the depth of the schedule. "We sail in over 21 regattas now," Judson said. "In the beginning, we sailed five or six regattas, max, and most schools we sailed against were prep schools." And with those prep schools being in Connecticut for the most part, the team did a lot of traveling in those days.

Since then, sailing on the Cape has kept pace with Nantucket, and the Whalers now compete against more nearby teams, like Sandwich, Harwich, Nauset, Barnstable, Chatham and Dennis-Yarmouth. "It's all due to the emergence of community sailing programs," Judson points out. "High school sailing is an offshoot of that."

Another offshoot is community involvement. "Because of the kids who have gotten into sailing, it's gotten their parents interested," Judson said. "It's very much a team and family effort. The parents go down to the Boat Basin and huddle out of the wind."

Unlike other sports, it's difficult to be a sailing spectator, unless you're out on a sailboat or chase boat. But make no mistake about it, sailing - with its emphasis on teamwork and strategy - is a true sport.

"I challenge anybody who says it isn't a sport," Judson notes. "Some people don't look at it as a sport, but their eyes are opened out there. It takes a significant involvement, never mind a constitution that can deal with cold weather."

So bundle up. But remember, too, that sailboats on the harbor can only

mean that summer isn't far behind. I

SPRING SAILING SCHEDULE

April 1 - Sandwich (Home)
April 4 - Harwich (Home)
April 5 - Nauset (Home)
April 9 - at Dennis-Yarmouth
April 11 - at Nauset (JV)
April 17 - at Chatham
April 18 - at Dartmouth
April 29 - Falmouth and
Bishop Stang (Home)
May 2 - at Barnstable
May 3 - Tabor (Home)
May 9 - at Harwich
May 11 - Women's New England
Championships at Sail Maine
May 15 - Dennis-Yarmouth (Home)
May 20 - Martha's Vineyard (Home)
May 22 - Chatham (Home)
May 25 - Figawi High
School Invitational