By Rachel Bennung
High school sailing in New Jersey has been growing throughout the years. In the late 90’s there were only about five teams. Currently, there are twenty-one active teams in New Jersey. However, there are a lot more teams beginning to form and the existing teams continue to attract more sailors. This fall there have been some exciting regattas held in New Jersey. Here is a recap of the regattas so far this fall and a look into high school sailing in New Jersey.
On September 12th Toms River Yacht Club hosted the NJISA 2015 SailFest Regatta. Twelve teams attended, three of those schools were able to form two teams. Making a total of 15 boats on the line. SailFest Results
On September 19-20th Surf City Yacht Club hosted the Radial and Full Rig Laser MASSA Cressy Qualifier. A total of 30 laser radial sailors attended and 14 full rig sailors. These sailors were competing for a chance to attend Nationals which will be held at ODU in Norfolk, VA at the end of October. Two sailors from New Jersey will attend Nationals this year, Michael Ehnot in Radial from Christian Brothers Academy, and Michael Munger in Full Rig from Rumson-Fairhaven High School. Radial Results and Full Rig Results
October 10th Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club held the NJISA 2015 Fall Fleet Qualifier. A total of thirteen teams attended to battle it out for a chance to qualify for MASSA Fall Fleet Race Championship I and II held in Virginia the following weekend. Fall Fleet Qualifier Results
There are currently three major practice and regatta sites for high school sailing in New Jersey. The first is Toms River Yacht Club where the high school sailors are able to use the Ocean County Community College’s fleet of eighteen 420s. Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club is the second site where high school sailors use Monmouth University’s fleet of eighteen FJs. Finally, Perth Amboy hosts practices and regattas at a municipal at the southern end of Perth Amboy in FJs.
In addition to the regattas every week Perth Amboy and Toms River Yacht Club host a fall series. Perth Amboy holds their series on Tuesdays and typically have 5 teams attend. However, some teams are able to make multiple teams getting more kids on the water and more boats on the line. At Toms River the series typically has 10 schools attend, however, again some teams are able to form another team, typically getting 15-16 boats on the line.
Every season high school sailing in New Jersey continues to grow with more kids getting involved and more regattas every season. Just in the past couple years we have seen multiple new teams emerge. As the number of teams grow so does the talent. It’s an exciting time in New Jersey high school sailing and can only get bigger and better from here on!
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