Elena Gonick is currently weighing her college options. Understandably, it’s a difficult decision and one that shouldn’t be made on a whim.
As the Olympia High School senior whittles her list down in an attempt to determine the perfect university for her, a checklist of needs has been made. One criteria sits atop the rest.
“I’ve only applied to schools who have sailing teams,” said Gonick, whose potential schools include the University of Washington and Western Washington University. “I’m definitely going to sail in college and hopefully, sail for the rest of my life.”
Gonick is one of 34 members of the Olympia Yacht Club High School sailing team – a squad comprised of 22 local high school and 12 middle school students.
It’s some impressive numbers for a program that’s been around for nearly two decades, a total expected to grow as word continues to get out.
“Our program has exponentially grown here. For perspective, our high school sailing team had five sailors last spring and no middle school sailors,” said OYC high school sailing team coach Sarah Hanavan. “The interest has always been there. The summer program has always done really well. Last year we had 400 kids participating in it. It was just about connecting the summer kids to the year round sailing programs that’s offered here.”
The team, which is backed by the Olympia Yacht Club, is offered to area students between 7 – 12 grade and is active in the fall and spring, competing in regional regattas and practicing on Budd Inlet.
“Lots of people think of sailing as a quaint summer activity and not something you can do year round,”Hanavan said. “It’s more than a career. It’s more than a sport. It’s a lifestyle.”
It’s an assessment Gonick fully agrees with despite having minimal prior experience on the water. This year marks her fourth year in the program.
“I had taken a couple weeks of sailing classes before, but nothing like this. My family doesn’t sail. I didn’t have a background in it. I really liked the (summer) camp and someone mentioned that I should join the high school team,” Gonick said. “The first year I was here there were six people. It was really intimidating because I came in the middle of the season. But it ended up being awesome. It was definitely the sort of opportunity where I felt I applied myself and I learned a lot.”
According to Hanavan, students interested in joining the team in the fall would benefit greatly by signing up for summer classes through the Olympia Yacht Club.
“If you’re in seventh or eighth grade or in high school and have interest in sailing, the best thing you can do for yourself is sign up for summer classes,” said Hanavan, who has coached the OYC High School sailing team for two years. “The summer is tailored to teaching you how to sail. The high school team is the competitive entity. The high school sailing team’s emphasis will always be on racing and competition. And while we accept people with no sailing experience, it is hard if you’re just learning how to sail and don’t know if you like it yet.”
After students get the basics down, it is time for competition.
“We encourage people to take more than just one week of summer sailing class,” Hanavan said. “There’s an incentive. It creates a demand. Having sailors that can sail more than three months out of the year creates better sailors. They want to see more sailing opportunities. You’re creating a demand and the demand gets filled and because you fill it more demand gets created. You get this upward spiral.”
With numbers more than quadrupling over the past year, the program appears to certainly be on the upswing. For example, the team recently celebrated a large accomplishment by hosting its first regatta.
Featuring approximately 160 youth participants, Olympia hosted the “It’s the Water Regatta” March 19 and 20 – an event Hanavan envisions becoming an annual event.
“Everyone was really excited for it. We just have a great sailing community in the South Sound,” Hanavan said. “I would love to see us have more than just one event here a year. It should become the norm and not a one-off.”
The competitive season will run through Memorial Day weekend. High school sailors practice Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, while middle school students practice Tuesdays and Thursdays. The team will participate in a number of regattas, with the season ending in Anacortes with the annual Baker Trophy ISSA Team Race Championship.
“We have a lot of exciting new programs this summer. We’ve tried to expand. I would love to see high school and middle school students fill out our roster. I’d love to have a full Capital team and a full North Thurston team, just have all the schools represented,” Hanavan said.
“This has been really rewarding,” added Hanavan. “I was excited to work with this program because once I got involved I realized how much potential it had. I think it sells itself. I think everyone has a racer in them.”
