This coming weekend, eight of Lakewood’s great sailors will take on others at Grosse Pointe, MI. The team is taking two chaperones and three cars to travel up North for the first regatta of the season.

So what does it take to be a traveling competitive sailor? Quite a bit, considering we get minimal support from the school we sail through. The week in advance of regattas, team captain Luke Healy collects money from all the sailors for admission fees and hotels. Then, parents are recruited as chaperones and a designated coach is asked to come. Furthermore, the intense packing food, gear and cozy clothes for post-race is exhausting in and of itself–and that’s just the preparation.

The weekend is then filled with guitar and ukulele music, refilling water bottles, finding food nearby and bonding with teammates, as well as racing. But you know what? I wouldn’t give up a single part of this difficult process because sailing is an experience. Any trip we take as a team creates drama and solves it, then brings us all together closer as a family.

This trip to Grosse Pointe, near Detroit, MI, will be a test of our friendships and how we work together as a team. This, however, is a small feat compared to our freezing practices right after school on the frequent. Overall, this sport is one of the most difficult and bonding sports there is.

We are still accepting new sailors this spring season, check out the link below!

https://www.clevelandfoundry.org/sailing