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Sports

Boston Public Schools Sailors on What They Love About the Sport

Members of the newly formed BPS Sailing program share their favorite parts of the sport.

The newly formed Boston Public Schools sailing team competed in its first Massachusetts Bay League Championship this week. For those involved with the team, it is clearly a labor of love. Below are their thoughts on gives sailing a special place in their lives.

Sophomore team member David Rodriguez: "The control for me. Being able to be in control of the boat, my crew, making those split-second decisions that can make or break the standings and a race. The intensity of the sport ... you wouldn't think sailing would be so intense, but if you stepped out on the boat you would realize that it's really one of the most intense sports there is."

Assistant Coach Rosemary Lyons: "I like the point when you're out on the water and you're away from the city and it's like the boat becomes an extra appendage when you really get used to it and very practiced. You're not even thinking about it anymore. You just have the wind and sky and the harbor islands and 'Oh, here's a porpoise' ... it's getting away from the stressful part of your life. And then the fact that you can control something in such a way and that you know what to do if something goes wrong and just being able to deal with it situation by situation. The peacefulness of it, I think, is what I love about it."

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Head Coach Chris DuBois: "I think for me it's really being in touch with all of the elements on the planet. You're on the water, you're using the wind, you're hopefully not hitting the rocks. So you're hopefully working within the harmony of Mother Nature but also trying to battle it, like today on the race course. What I really like about it is there are forces you can't ignore. I'm a musician, so in other parts of my life there's certain artificial constructs you can put together. You can try to change the rules, bend the rules and do this, and you can get really caught up in your head with playing that game. But I can't change the rules on what the tide is. Or what the weather is. Or whether or not I'm going to be able to make it around that island. There's things in the universe that I can't control."

DuBois on what some kids enjoy: "You're talking about people that haven't done driver's ed yet, they don't even have a permit, and you're giving them a 20 foot sailboat and saying 'Hey, go.' And they have to sail around the harbor and look out for tankers and tug boats and not hit stuff. They have independence and control."

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