Sailing Features Veteran Sailors, New Boats

This year’s season for the varsity sailing team will represent a year of transition, in more ways than one, but a strong returning core should create the potential for strong results.

Arriving on campus is a brand new fleet of FJ-class sailboats, which the team will use for practice and for all its home regattas. This class of boat is largely replacing the older 420-class boat in high school sailing, particularly at the championship events, and having the ability to practice in them every day should make the Bearcats better prepared to sail at nationals.

But coaches and captains both admit that the FJs are harder to sail, being easier to tip and requiring more technical ability, so the learning curve for the team has been steeper at the start of the season.

“Once our team learns them, we’ll be a better overall team,” said co-head coach Roger Rawlings. Fellow head coach Tom Peabody added that the FJs tack more quickly, which will better suit Hotchkiss sailors on the shifting winds of Lake Wononscopomuc.

Co-captain Elizabeth Koobatian ’19 said that members of the team described the arrival of the new boats in early April as “Christmas morning”, and fellow captain Meredith Moran ’19 described them as “beautiful.”

Although the transition to the new boats is a welcome shift for the program, another major change will be bittersweet, with this being the last season as coach for Rawlings, who is stepping away after a quarter century at the head of the program. Under Rawlings, the team has consistently been one of the best programs in New England, winning numerous championships and sportsmanship awards.

“While we are excited to see the very talented Coach Peabody take over the program, it is hard to say goodbye to Coach Rawlings,” said Moran. “We want this season to be our best one yet, and we remain intensely focused for our big upcoming regattas.”

The regattas come more quickly this year, with Hotchkiss playing host to the New England championships on April 14. The event was moved up a week this season due to Easter, and Moran said the team was very excited to race at home this year.

“We benefit from better intelligence on sailing conditions, which is valuable especially since our lake is known to be variable,” she said. “The competition will be especially strong, but we are ready to tackle the competition.”

Other major events on the horizon include the New England girls championship and national fleets on May 11-12, the New England team championships on May 18-19, and the national team championships on May 25-26.

This year’s squad should be well positioned to be successful, having returned six of the eight sailors who competed at the New England team championships and three of the four sailors from fleets last year.

Having so much experience will help raise the overall level of all the sailors on the team, said Koobatian. “Having so many returners puts us in a unique position because the older members of the team can help make the transition for the new members easier, while improving their own skills,” she said.

In addition to the returning core, a promising crop of new sailors has given this year’s team an unusual amount of depth, and Rawlings said that the Bearcats have a group of 10 boats this year of relatively comparable skill. Having such a large, talented group will be more of a challenge for the coaches, but gives the team exciting prospects for competition, he said.

Koobatian and Moran both said that they and fellow captain Chris Lukens ’19 have been working hard to create a cohesive group out of the 28 sailors on the roster.

“As captains, we have worked hard to ensure everyone feels included and has an opportunity to build sailing skills. Each sailor has someone to go to if they need help or just want to talk to someone,” she said.

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