Coaches - Jeff Lewis,
Sailing is the newest varsity sport at Salisbury
School. After beginning as a
recreational sailing program, Salisbury Sailing Team now competes against many
of the most competitive high school sailing teams in New England.
Competitive sailing requires a broad array of skills from
nimble athleticism, seamanship in a variety of weather conditions and a nuanced
affinity for complex racing rules and tactics.
Our sailors practice in and race in 420s, a classic one-design racing
sloop common to college and university sailing programs. (Our current fleet of eight boats came from
the Yale University Sailing where our original benefactor John Brim sailed in
college.) 420s (named for their length
of 4.2 meters or 420 centimeters) are fast and nimble sloops that carry both
main and jib sails. The carry a crew of
two who must work together as a team, almost as one unit, though each man has a
different role in the boat.
It might be said that sailing is a team sport within a team
sport. Each boat of two sailors must
function as a team, but so must the team itself, which is composed of six
sailors in three different boats. When
we race against other teams, we always race three against three, with the winning
team being the one that over a series of matches, has the lowest combined
score. A winning combination, for
example, would be 1, 2, 6 or 2,3,4. A
1, 4, 6, however, would be a lost match.
The tactics and strategies needed to ensure the desired winning
combinations make these matches athletically and mentally rigorous days on the
water.
The 2012 Sailing Team is captained by Sixth Former Robin
Lewis. Other sailors include: Alec Horter, Frankie Craft, Kuyler Rolo,
Charles Cross and Trent Carpenter. Head
Coaches are Jeffrey Lewis and Michael Bienkowski , who along with Linda Ryan
and Pascale Delfosse, are the most fortunate faculty members who get to spend
their afternoons on the water with this great group of sailors.