For many Bostonians, the sight of white sails in the basin of the Charles River signifies the end of the long, arduous New England winter and the onset of spring. However, for 18 students at CRLS, the advent of the sails means more than just spring: It means the start of the spring sailing season.

Tatiana Athanasopoulos ’18, who has been on the sailing team for two years, commented, “Sailing is better than all the other sports at CRLS; you get a tan and there’s no running.”

After school, you will find a pack of CRLS students walking to Harvard Square to take the Red Line a short three stops to Charles MGH. Fifty percent of this year’s team members are juniors, with the remaining half comprised of three freshmen, three sophomores, and three seniors. These 18 sailors are going to the team’s main base, Community Boating Inc., known to many as CBI. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, you will find the team in their locker room or out on the Charles River getting ready for their next race.

Though many CRLS sports participate in the Dual County League, not many other high schools in the area have sailing teams, so the CRLS sailors race against a mix of schools including Newton-North, Newton Country Day, Needham, and North Quincy.

The team is coached by Amanda Donohue, who is a special education teacher at Arlington High School. Donohue has been sailing since before she was in high school and ended up sailing at the University of Vermont.

Donohue has been coach of the team for three years, and from her perspective, one of the main reasons that the team is doing so well this year is the “dedication and commitment of the students.” She spoke to the RF at a sailing regatta in May and in an email. She commented, “The juniors now were freshmen when I started … I think they have learned a lot from me, but I have also learned a lot from them.”

The three captains of the team this year are senior Michael Colombo and juniors Sylvia Fresco and Thomas Craciun. Both Fresco and Colombo have been on the team since their freshman years and are in agreement that originally they joined the team for gym credit. However, their reasons for being on the team have evolved. According to Fresco, “The best part about sailing as a sport in general is that it is very inclusive of different body types. For people like me who always struggled in sports because I would get to a certain point in terms of my ability and then not be able to improve because of my body shape, being on the sailing team has been a very satisfying experience.”

At each race, about half of the team races with four boats from each school and two students per boat. Generally, the people who compete rotate each time, but there are always exceptions depending how people have been doing in practice or racing.

CRLS is doing really well this year, and the team is first in their division of the league. According to Donohue, her favorite part of the coaching CRLS kids is “their focus and drive.” Donohue concluded, “One of the things that I’ve noticed about CRLS is there is a climate of excellence, so a lot of the kids on the team really wanna be the best they can be.”

This piece also appears in our May print edition.