By Camille Juton
Staff Writer
Setting sail from King Harbor and battling the tides of the ocean, the Mira Costa sailing team, led by coach Jake Sorosky and captain Joe Schiff, have been navigating the waters for the past seven years.
Unlike most other high school sports teams the sailing team brings a whole new aspect to teamwork. Although the sport only requires two people per collegiate flying junior(CFJ), the boats the team uses, there is still a feeling of unity and support.
“I’ve practically been sailing since I was born,” senior sailor Kelly Doyle said. “I joined the sailing team my sophomore year after having known most of the kids from the Yacht Club. Ever since we have really formed a bond because of the countless hours we spend out on the water.”
The sailing team practices every Tuesday and Thursday for four hours at King Harbor. The team’s competitions called sailing regattas, are held about five times a year. Sailors compete in a multitude of places along the rest of the Los Angeles coast in these regattas.
“We’ve been to a lot of cool places over the last couple years for sailing regattas,” Schiff said. “One of the best trips was when we sailed up in Santa Barbara because I got to sail where I’m going to be sailing for the next four years.”
The sailing team consists of ten teammates from both Redondo High School and Costa. Every CFJ requires a skipper and a crew. The skipper steers the boat and controls the main sail while the crew’s job is to maintain a weight balance and control over the gibe sail, which is the front sail.
“Being a skipper means you’re basically in charge of the boat,” Doyle said. “During the race all the pressure is on you and it all depends on your performance, which makes it all the more rewarding when you do well.”
The sailing team is ranked 21st out of 58 in the Golden Fleet which is a division for sailing. To maintain this position the team spends a lot of practice learning the practicalities and techniques used to sail a boat.
“We’re out in the water for about two hours every practice,” Doyle said. “It’s really fun when the sun is out because you can jump out and just go swimming in the water. When the wind picks up though it becomes a lot of work just to keep the boat from capsizing.”
For many on the team, sailing has been something they were born doing and plan on continuing throughout the rest of their lives.
“Next year I will be going to school at UCSB and sailing for their team,” Schiff said. “After college I plan on starting an Olympic campaign.Its a very competitive lifestyle, racing against the best sailors from around the world, but I am up for it.”
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