The Sharon sailing team sails in the Mass Bay League (MBL) governed by the New England Schools Sailing Association (NESSA), not the Hockomock League governed by MIAA like the other high school teams. The league is divided into three divisions: Sharon is in Division A which includes high performing teams that typically have their own venue, are able to travel, sail against teams outside the league too, and compete in NESSA spring season ending tournaments. Division B includes schools that don't sail outside of the MBL and sail fewer meets. Teams that are smaller, don't have their own venue, and must compete either at Boston's Community Boating on the Charles River, at the Courageous sailing center, or at an opponent's venue sail in Division C.

Sailing is a truly co-ed sport. Both girls and boys skipper as well as crew, and they compete on an equal level. 

Some of the schools in our league are private and may even recruit sailors already having considerable experience. The new members of Sharon's sailing team rarely have more than basic skills. They learn advanced boat handling, tactics, teamwork, and strategies for competition after joining the team, mostly during fall seasons. 

The sailing team competes at multiple levels. We have meets and attend regattas for varsity and JV level sailors. Furthermore, our competitions may be with New England's top teams (some of which may compete at the national level) as well as teams very much like ours.

We sail in two very different types of competitions: Team racing and fleet racing. Basic sailing skills are needed in both types of racing, but the tactics, strategies, and the rules differ quite a bit. Fleet racing regattas typically involve many schools, each of which has one boat in each of two divisions that race separately. The schools with the fastest boats and the lowest total of finish ranks in all the races take the top awards in the regatta. In Team racing, two schools' teams sail head-to-head against each other, typically in three to five races. Each school's team has three boats and the team with the lowest total finish ranks for all three boats wins the race, no matter how long it takes them to round the course. Slowing down the other team is as important as sailing fast. 

We sometimes practice or compete during light rain and/or low temperatures, and we see quite a variety of sailing venues.  We sail at small lakes, the Charles River, Boston Harbor, various bays, and occasionally, Long Island Sound or another more distant and perhaps larger body of water. Wind may be light or heavy, it may be constant or have lulls, and it might shift between different directions. At some venues, we have to contend with currents and tides, but not at our venue, Lake Massapoag.

We frequently host regattas. In the fall, we often host the NESSA FunFest, a fleet race qualifier for other, more major regional competions. Many spring seasons, we host a Sharon Invitational Regatta which attracts teams from around the region.  It is a full day of fleet racing, hanging out on the beach between races, burgers and dogs for lunch grilled by parent volunteers, and trophies for the winning sailors and teams in both divisions. Less often, we are asked to host NESSA events, and twice, we hosted the National Invitational Tournament.

All in all, the sailing team experience is challenging, exciting, and fun!

For details about the evolution of the sailing program and the team's accomplishments, check out the Team History page here.