New Trier Sailing had a huge turnout for our fall 2020 season, consisting of both new and returning sailors. Thirty-five enthusiastic sailors joined the team.
We were fortunate to be able to get out onto the water as much as we did, including socially distanced practices and a few weekend regattas during the COVID-19 pandemic (without having any outbreaks!).
This fall season was certainly different from the ones that we have experienced in the past, with the inclusion of masks, an impromptu outdoor classroom, and social distancing, but the fun still remained! We still had the bus this season for both JV and Varsity, obviously with new protocols such as the Teamsnap HealthCheck, masks, sitting 6 feet apart etc. A big thank you to Amit ‘21 and Kevin ‘21 for being awesome JV bus captains.
There was definitely an adjustment to be made for returning sailors, but New Trier embraced the adversity and rose to the occasion, our team dynamic as strong as ever. Normally the two teams would have participated in longstanding NTS traditions including team bonding, social gatherings and surprise events, but with the current circumstances we felt it was safest for everyone to wait until the spring season. We are staying positive that the Spring 2021 season will be more normal than the fall of 2020 so we will be able to keep NTS traditions alive. Throughout the weeks, New Trier still managed to host meetings via Zoom for “chalk talks” (as we like to call them) and melded the two teams (JV and Varsity) with a socially distanced ice cream social.
Since there was zero travel this season, there weren’t many interscholastic competitions apart from the schools who practice at The Chicago Yacht Club. New Trier still made strong and steady progress at every regatta and practice. New Trier was able to compete at three regattas all hosted by CYC: the Historic Pandemic Classic, Halloween Classic and the Shepherd Great Lakes Championship. At the Great Lakes Championships some of our sailors were stationed at Belmont Harbor while others made their way down to Columbia Yacht club. Overall, New Trier placed at an average 7th, however, our team spirit was more than commendable- a special shoutout goes to those who made their way down to the city as “cheerleaders” (thanks for the terminology, Dave). With many new skippers and almost all entirely new boat pairings, New Trier made great improvements throughout the season! It goes without saying that we are looking forward to whatever the Spring has in store!