Hello sailors,

 

I apologize I was not able to respond to any of your recent emails
concerning the team for this year; I was busy with important decision making
during the past two months, and I finally was able to make a reasonable
decision recently: The Mercer Island Sailing Team will discontinue
participating in any sailing events, and membership with High School Sailing
USA will be terminated. Essentially, the Mercer Island Sailing Team no
longer exists. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

A variety of factors led me to make this tough decision, all of which, when
combined, make it seem unrealistic to continue investing time and money into
this wonderful sport.

 

·         Sailors: There are not enough experienced senior sailors on the
team to act as role models and leaders for other members of the team or to
sufficiently teach new members about sailing and fleet/team racing. Eric
and I are the only experienced sailors left on the team, and both of
us have events this Spring which will conflict our participation in all of
the practices at SSP as well as many of the regattas. Consequently, there is
no one left on the team to whom I can assume many of the responsibilities
required to lead the rest of the sailors.

·         Money: The financial toll is increasing. NWISA charges a per-team
flat rate, and with only a handful of sailors on our team, each sailor will
have to contribute a large amount just to allow the team to be a member of
NWISA. (Other high school teams have as many as 40 sailors, all of who
participate regularly at all events. These teams practice three to four
times a week.) All sailors must also pay approximately $300 for
participation in SPYS for one year. Additionally, there are more regattas
this year which require ferry transport than last year. (Ferry tolls are
also rising steadily.) The team cannot receive funding from the school
because of its already extensive list of budget cuts. The team also cannot
engage in fundraising because of its small size. All members must purchase
adequate sailing equipment, all of which is expensive. (Off the top of my
head, here is the approximate price for equipment: life vest $50, waterproof
jacket $150, waterproof pants $150, sailing boots $50, sailing gloves $30,
sailing hat $30, sunglasses and other UV protection $30. For two day events,
it is usually best to have two pairs of full sailing equipment so that
sailors do not have to change into wet clothes on the second day of the
event.)

·         Size: Our team is small in size. Many regattas follow team racing
rules, which require at least six sailors (plus at least one spare sailor to
relieve other sailors is preferable) to participate full-time in a two-day
event. If our policy of having members participate in only the majority of
the regattas continues for this year, we will never have enough people to
participate in the team racing events.

·         Unlike other high school sailing teams, our team does not own a
fleet of boats. All of "our" boats belong to SSP, so our practice schedule
is restricted to the SPYS schedule.

·         Transportation: Other high schools have the privilege of their
dock being only a five-minute walk or drive from their high school. We have
to commute 40 minutes though high school rush hour and Seattle rush hour to
Sail Sand Point and back home through UW/Husky Stadium rush hour and Seattle
rush hour, which is dependent on weather, but can be anywhere from 45
minutes to over an hour. (Believe it or not, after windy, rainy, cold,
miserable practices, I sometimes had to wait 2 ½ hours in the rain in
"parking lot" traffic in Seattle only to arrive home at 8 in the evening
completely exhausted! When is the time to do homework?) Most regattas are a
long commute for us (though this is one thing other teams have to put up
with, too). One member suggested that we depart by powerboat from Luther
Burbank Park and cruise to Sail Sand Point on Lake Washington, but no one
can provide a powerboat that is fast enough to get there faster than by car
or big enough to withstand harsh weather conditions.

·         Coaching: We do not have a solid coach or high school advisor.
Both positions change frequently, and the team cannot operate efficiently
without both positions filled by a committed and consistent adult.

·         High School: The high school administration has little interest
(or even knowledge) of the team. Participation in this sport does not count
towards sports credit at the high school. The administration also cannot
open the gyms for overnight sleep-overs for visiting high school teams (like
other high schools) for liability and financial purposes, so sailors of our
team must provide berth to these teams in their own homes. The
administration does not provide any transportation to any of the events at
all.

·         Practice: Our practices occur in a lake, and all of the regattas
occur in salt water with tides and current. Most of our practices are either
sunny days with no wind or rainy days with gusty and variable winds, whereas
all of the salt water regattas have sunny days with a moderate and
consistent wind direction and velocity (which is ideal for sailing). Our
practicing environment does not match our racing environment.

·         Time: Overall, this team is a large time commitment. Sailors
arrive home at around 7:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays after leaving straight
from the high school, and regattas take both days of the weekend.

 

If you are still interested in sailing, you can still enroll in Sail Sand
Point's Youth Sailing (SPYS) program, and you can still participate in open
regattas only hosted by a NWISA high school team and in all regattas
organized by NWYRC (most of which take place in the summer).

 

If other sailing members did not receive this message, please forward this
email to them.

 

Thomas