Have you ever looked out over Dyes Inlet and seen a group of small sailboats sailing in a circle? There’s a good chance you saw the CK sailing team. You may not have known they existed, but as it turns out, they were one of the hardest working teams at CK, with practices every weekday, and regattas (races) every weekend. They not only had to learn how to sail, but also how to tell the location and direction of the wind, to avoid a capsize.

If they did capsize, they’d end up in the cold water, and had to act quickly to right their boat and get back on track. “One person will swim around the boat to where the bottom is, and grab onto a board sticking out of the bottom of the boat. They will then put all of their body weight into pulling the board down into the water, flipping the boat upright while the others get scooped up by the boat,” said junior Niko Twilla, who has been sailing more than four years.

The team competed against several different schools in the season, but most of them were pretty far away, because not every school has a big enough body of water to practice in. The farthest they’ve ever had to travel for a regatta was the San Juans, but they’ve gone all over the Puget Sound.

When they get there, they could expect anywhere from massive gusts of wind, to no wind at all. High wind levels can be dangerous, and even cause the team to have to cancel their regatta. “Usually if the wind is too low or too high, we will do exercises on shore and discuss racing tactics and strategy,” said Twilla. “There are fun attributes to almost all wind conditions. It’s fun to fly across the water in high wind speeds, but it takes a lot more skill and precision to get your boat to move in low wind.”

On low wind days, when the weather is nice, sometimes the team will just explore the Sound by foot, which can lead to some interesting discoveries. “We found a shopping cart abandoned under the water, stuck in the mud. We used ropes and knots to secure the cart and haul it out of the water, and then the track team hauled it to the school.”

Anyone can get into sailing, with no previous experience, and still be successful in the sport. If you want to continue working for the sailing team after you graduate, you can become an instructor, like many seniors and juniors have done this year. Instructors have the responsibility of helping to teach beginner sailors, as well as being good swimmers, and knowing how to drive the ‘safety boat’ in case of an emergency.

Despite being dangerous, CK sailors agree that the experiences are  worth the risks