Walk into Rooms 309 and 311 after school and be immersed in student-run sailing seminars, where varsity sailors educate a diverse and energetic crowd.

Sophomore Anthony Poluyanoff first joined the sailing team this year, having been on the ski team in the winter. He is currently practicing and learning sailing practices, such as how to tie certain knots.

“What’s cool is that unlike the ski team, where we practice immediately, we get to actually be taught the sport first. Here, we learn the rules before we get out on the water, which is nice because when I get on the water, I won’t be worrying about how to tie a knot, how to adjust a sail or how to stand,” Poluyanoff said. “I’ll know how to do everything, so when I am in the water, I can just focus on improving my skills.”

Meetings known as “chalk talks” are extremely important during preseason to the junior varsity athletes, whom the varsity athletes teach to sail and compete.

“During preseason, we split up into an advanced group and a beginners group. Advance talks more about sailing tactics, rules and how to improve team skill racing,” said senior Emily Chin. “Beginners talk about the different parts of the boat, what the winds of sail are, how to tie certain knots and workouts.”

Before getting out on the water, the upperclassmen are responsible for gathering up the team and helping everyone learn and train as best as possible.

“Seniors generally organize preseason, like during workouts or in classrooms. Most of the seniors have been on the team since they were a freshman, so they have all the experience,” said senior Nate Mullin.

With varsity and JV members both learning how to improve themselves as sailors and competitors, they form a tight bond by working closely together and helping one another frequently.

“It’s a really nice community. Everyone helps each other out with sailing and there’s no animosity at all between anyone, so it makes our team really close knit,” said senior Zander Rose. “Older people help out the newer people who are first beginning to sail and learning the ropes of everything.”

Although joining the sailing team does not require a ton of experience, it does require an immense amount of dedication, effort, and a desire to learn how to sail, race and compete.

“It’s awesome because I personally had never sailed until high school, when I joined the sailing team, and clearly you can learn a lot,” said Chin. “I went from never sailing before to varsity to then competing in states and taking place. People can prove a lot, but you have to have the effort.”

Even without any sailing experience, by working to your fullest potential alongside other skilled and experienced sailors, you have opportunities to succeed.

“There was a senior girl when I was a freshman who had never sailed before, and by the end of the season she was doing really well. She ended up going onto a sailing college,” said Mullin.

This group of multi-skilled sailors forms a diverse and interesting community of kids who are all working for a common goal: to improve and better their skills in many areas.

“I think it’s really nice having that mix of experience and inexperience. It’s also really nice just seeing people working together and helping one another. Experienced sailors still have a lot to learn, too,” said Chin. “People can always improve more, especially with team racing. We can learn a lot from each other, whether it’s from communication or strategies.”

Many sailors said that they thought their team was interesting because of the tight bond the experienced varsity players had with the less experienced JV athletes.

“A lot of the other sailing teams are really divided between their boats with varsity and JV. With us, we all practice together and are often in the same classrooms together every day,” said senior Aaron Wishinsky.

Some sailors also said that they thought the most interesting part of their team was the differences in skill level.

“On the team itself, you have some people who have sailed for five or six years, and then you have other people who haven’t even sailed before,” said senior Dan Klarnet. “They all make the team, but by the end of the season, everyone seems to have a really good understanding of how to sail.”

Chin agreed that the wide range of experience on the team makes it more interesting and unique.

“Last year, we had someone who sailed on Team USA. But there are some people who have actually never sailed before. I think it’s really interesting how people interact with each other in that way,” said Chin.

With a group of energetic and passionate teens, the sailing team looks forward to a great season on the water.

Tasoula Burk can be contacted at [email protected].