Happy Memorial Day, everyone.
So, you say you want your kids to learn to sail? Or even race, someday?
Well, you’ve come to the right column this wonderful day. Because the answer lies right out in the middle of the harbor and someday, your kids might tell you it was the best decision you and they ever made.
Where do you suppose all the medal-winning sailors came from for Gloucester High?
Well, local legend Hilary Frye has been running a summer sailing program for over 10 years at no cost for kids from Fishtown and Rockport and other North Shore towns. All our SailGHS team members over the years have come through her program. They learn to sail, they explore the Inner and Outer Harbor, they have water fights, they laugh, they sing, they carry on. Some as young as 10, girls and boys. Some years there have been more girls than boys, but mostly an even split.
Anyhoo, we are actively seeking new kids to teach, even with no experience. Mostly they learn from the other kids. It’s great and it has been a major part of our SailGHS success. The program starts right after school gets out, after June 13. This devoted sailor urges you to contact Hilary at hilfrye@yahoo.com for the exact details. Again, there is no cost, except for their enthusiasm. All the equipment is supplied by the program.
Now, what’s all this success that her program has produced? Well, three years ago, SailGHS won the Division 2 state championships and repeated the next year. But this year, the field of teams was much better, but so were we.
SailGHS knocked off four top Division 1 teams, including last year’s state champions in a surprise 4-team challenge meet sweep. We hung in there with an 11-1-1 record and qualified for the state tourney May 18 in Boston Harbor. It was a complex playoff structure this year, a different format, matching the five best teams of the 20-team division from the north, south and west of Boston.
So, there we were, late Sunday, after a 52-race elimination tournament, tied atop the heap.
It was down to Nantasket High (Hull) and Gloucester all knotted up, bases loaded, two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, so to speak, with one last race to sail. The current had been steadily building, with the city dumping excess rainwater out of the Charles River. The two teams blasted out of the start and for a while, it looked like GHS had the upper hand. But tacking to the right exposed our middle boat to a sidewalk moving sideways and that, sadly, proved to be the difference. When the dust finally settled, Nantasket had won by a nose. They were really good and also pretty darn excited to have beaten Gloucester. They threw their coach in the water in celebration. I had a raging cold, so I guess I dodged a bullet.
Our sailors were bummed but proud. We had blitzed every team we’d faced, including the far larger Boston Latin team, our only loss during the regular season. We licked our wounds, but partied with chile and moon pies in the parking lot. Senior AJ Lewis was named team MVP in an amazingly difficult year. His will be difficult shoes to fill.
But fill them we will. AJ came up through Hilary’s summer program. Man, will we miss him, but we’ll have your kids enrolling with her this summer to take his place someday. We can’t wait to get started with a new generation, added to the kids already here. So give her an email or a call at 978-290-2467 and let’s get going!
Gloucester resident Gordon Baird is a SailGHS coach, an actor and musician, co-founder of Musician Magazine, and producer of “The Chicken Shack” community access TV show.