Sailing toward the win

The Dartmouth High School Sailing team started this season off strong, and plan to continue sailing on this success. However, this team has a bunch of buried treasures in the team's history. 

“Dartmouth can feel real proud about the successes of its sailors and the history that we have,” said head coach Bob Conron. 

The team has existed for 28 years, when Warren Hathaway started the team, who Conron describes as “a well regarded name sailing, especially locally.” Conron now races Hathaway’s boat in weekly races. 

“So there’s a circle here, that’s a very special circle that I am again, grateful to be a part of,” said Conron. 

Two of the captains have been sailing together their whole lives; twins Finn and Sam Sperry, who also raced with their older sister. 

“I think as a team, we’re very bonded, more so than other teams,” said captain Phoebe Murray, “I think that it translates well into our racing. We’re able to have a fun time, even if it doesn’t go as planned.”

Finn was named National Champion with his teammate Peter Hurley in the 2024 Club 420’s two-person club sailboat category. The next year he competed with Sam, and they didn’t place. He credits this to having to restart the race due to incorrect starts, and losing his focus. 

“I just love this sport so much,” said Finn. 

The team meets at the Community Boating Center and sails from there. Over the summer, many of the club members volunteer at the Center to help local children learn to sail. 

“We are working with each other together, … Community Boating Center is providing to us and in return we can provide to them to serve the community itself,” said Conron. 

The team’s season has been going well, with five wins and one loss. 

“It’s looking good this year, we’ve got a lot of talent on this team right now,” said Sam. 

He added, “Everyone’s kind of just great friends here. And I mean, we’re competitive, obviously, but we put a big emphasis on fun.”

They typically race against one other school in the Cape and Islands League. They typically match race, where they have two teams of sailboats race against each other or fet race, where they have about one or two boats racing against the other school.

They also compete in regattas, where they race against 16 to 20 other schools.  

Usually, the team is competing against private schools, so it’s unique that Dartmouth has a sailing team. Private schools sometimes have sailing year-round, while Dartmouth’s team only practices in the spring. 

“It’s not a super common sport to have at public school, so it’s super cool that we have one,” said Finne, “It’s more a private school sport. So I love the fact that we have a program and it’s been pretty strong for the past few years.”

They have four goals this season; to win the Cape and Islands division, to get to and win Nationals, to continue the team next year and to have fun. 

“I love a nice sunny day, going out in the water, a little bit less stressful of a practice, and we get to have fun,” said Murray, “Sometimes we fall in, capsizes are always funny.”