Guest Commentary: New members welcome aboard La Jolla High Sail Team

By Kieran M. Bauman

Ever think about sailing? One of the best experiences in life is to be a part of a team sport. Competitive team sailing is one of

those. When you are part of a team, you bond with others. You accept responsibility to perform at your best. You want to excel for your team, and, even more importantly, for yourself.

I’ve been a competitive sailor with the La Jolla High Sail Team since seventh grade and it has been the experience of a lifetime! The team consists of a great group of students in grades 8-12 from Muirlands Middle School and La Jolla High. We travel all along the West Coast as we visit other yacht clubs from Long beach to San Francisco. We race in a multitude of regattas against other school teams. Some of these locations include Newport beach, San Francisco and Santa Barbara. Practices are 3-6 p.m. every Tuesday and friday (this is dependant on daylight time).

There is much preparation involved; when you first get there, you sign up for a boat and rig it. This includes raising the sails, putting in your rudder and tiller, and bringing it to the dock.

The boats we use are two-person boats called C-FJ’s. They are built for speed and competitive racing.

Once everyone is rigged and changed into their gear — gloves, life jacket (PFD), bathing suit — we are briefed by the coach who outlines what we’re going to do once on the water. We then sail, practicing maneuvers, speed and team organization for future regattas.

The drills include practicing starts, acceleration, speed control, gaining rights on other boats while on the water, and roll tacks. after a while on the water, we sail in, de-rig, wash the boat down, put them away, change into our regular clothes, and our coach offers a recap on what we did well and what we need to improve on as a team.

The Mission bay yacht Club is our team home and we are members of the club. The environment (good food and great views) promotes great friendships and is a fun place to hang out after practice or at any time.

The La Jolla High Sailing Team is definitely worth investigating if you love the water, want to work hard, and desire learning a lifetime sport.

If interested, contact Marjorie Garcia at (858) 922-3342 or mpgarcia9@gmail.com